Let there be Light!

Chers Amis,

Once, many, many an August ago, some friends and I made an adventurous 3-week camping tour of the Isle of Corsica. Driving along the craggy coast, there was but a short gray stone barrier to keep the car from plunging down to the sea. (Which nearly happened on a road with NO barrier once.) But what a view! One summer's eve as the sun set and the darkness swallowed the road, tiny lights appeared ahead. Villagers had lined the wall with thousands and thousands of candles and luminarias - one every few feet - for mile upon mile. That breathtaking image of the string of lights has stayed with me. This year as I put together our Advent/Christmas reading and came across The Christmas Path: A Legend of the Luminarias by Sue Wright. It is nicely illustrated book that tells of how the innkeeper and his wife gather every lamp and lantern thy can to light the path to the Christ child. On the last page there is a button the reader can push to light up the luminarias much like the Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle.

Putting the two images together, I decided to try to make our own luminous path leading us to the Christmas stable. To that end, we began saving all our tin cans and, with at least one can a day grace a notre chien, our pantry now abounds in empty silver shells awaiting decoration. Outside in the frigid December air, a line of gold luminarias has started winding around our deck - very slowly, one by one. If you haven't tried your hand at making luninaria before, it is easy and the result is much nicer than my photo.
So far I have just used basic holiday shapes - holly, ornaments, a tree, snowflakes etc. The easiest way to add the design is to draw or trace it on a piece of paper, tape it around the can and use a hammer and nail to pound holes through the pattern. Last nite I found this site . It has a lovely collection of Christian theme patterns for creating Chrismon tree ornaments and other Christian hobby projects. It would be a great source for lap book elements. I copied several different crosses - including a papal cross - a chalice, butterfly, ChiRho, TriCircle and a Fleur de lis. As you can see from the photo, we have a pile of cans waiting to be decorated, spray painted gold, and lit. It may not be as stunning as that dusk drive en Corse, but it should illuminate our Advent journey nicely. Try it, its fun!

-- Marjorie





PS - This beautiful picture of is Dusk on mountain sea coast (photo #fran1352) photos by photographer Jef Maion" from his collection.