Added: 11/16/2006 |
Are Outdoor Christmas Lights Going out the Door in California?For some families the most important outdoor lights are the lights on the roof tops and in the yards of the local residents. Other families treasure the lights that gleam from the public Christmas tree. Both groups of families have used the outdoor lighting, which has become so much a part of Christmastime, for establishing a family tradition.
That absence of a tree of course meant that the City residents would have one less display of outdoor lights to admire and enjoy. The City would provide budding artists with one less source of subject matter for an entry in a contest. In November of 2002, one young man had entered a drawing of outdoor Christmas lights in a City-sponsored essay and picture contest. One of the judges for that contest sat in the Council chambers on the night that the Council learned about the discontinued tree.
That woman could still remember that picture. She had known that the students had been asked to draw or write about a family holiday tradition. The picture of the outdoor Christmas lights had touched that female judge, because she could recall viewing such lights with her own family. In fact, that past judge felt the announcement about the discontinued tree to be the most important news coming out of that particular City Council Meeting.
The woman wondered how the City residents would react to that news. Would their mood be typical of the mood that might be created by an exhibit of blue lights? Would they blame the Business Improvement Committee, or would they think-up a unique way to substitute for the missing tree?
The past judge had once lived in a City that did not count on the illumination from electric lights during the Christmas season. She had once lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where luminarias are very popular. Luminarias provided Albuquerque City leaders with an inexpensive way to furnish the City with outdoor Christmas lights.
A luminaria consists of a paper bag with sand in the bottom. The sand serves to support a candle. When that candle becomes lighted, its light glows out through the paper bag. Luminarias have been popular in New Mexico for many decades.
More recently, Americans in other states have discovered the beauty of the luminarias. Some California supporters of breast cancer survivors put luminarias on a field once a year. Each lit luminaria represents a donation to the fund for breast cancer research.
Although many family members have a touch of sadness, as they see those lighted bags, they do not feel moved to institute a showing of blue Christmas lights. Usually family members who have lost a loved one to breast cancer feel that the luminarias serve as a fitting tribute to their deceased, close friends or relatives. That feeling is heightened by the pounding feet of the runners who circle the field during the lighting of those luminarias.
Since those families that have faced and dealt with breast cancer are in Culver City, CA, the City residents should be able to deal with the news that it will have fewer outdoor Christmas lights during the 2006 Christmas season.
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