Light Up the Culebra Night!

The Christmas season is now offically here, with last night being 'turn on the Christmas lights!' night. It's one of those nights that are uniquely Culebra, never the same but always the same, friends and families turn out, the street is blocked off, the stage set up, looking like its own wrapped gift.
Every year, the steep, sloping lawn in front of the Alcadia is filled with decorations of some sort. This year, the overall theme seems to be...um. I'm not sure, but I think I might have seen and felt something like this at a concert in 1972 when I was imbibing in things illegal. Fun then, fun now. And just as difficult to describe.

Lisa, Jaime, Molly and Pam

There were smiles everywhere, children and adults alike were beaming a seasonal beam. The thing about Christmas here on Culebra is that it is about as simple as most aspects of life are. There are no glitzy malls, shops are small and don't pull a lot of shiny tricks except the occasional string of lights and a few decorations. The season really starts at the tail end of November and runs through December into January, culminating with Three King's Day, the traditional day of presents, though December 25th is more and more like the states as the years go by, as far as present giving goes. Traditionally, the 25th is more the religious side of the season. No one fusses about religiously themed displays, no one mentions that there is no Hannukah menorah or Kwanza colors to make it 'fair'. It just is what it is, Culebra at Christmas. Parties, parrandas, and more parties.

Let the season officially begin!

Calixto looking dapper!

This pixie is about as weird as it gets, no, wait, isn't that Goofy in the background? Yes.

Calixto was the Master of Ceremonies.  Interim mayor, Natasha, spoke. The music played.

The children put on a little program of dance

Then there were the people. And the lights were on now too.

Lilly out of the gas station. You can't see it but that top was all aglitter.

Dee, out of the kitchen and into the street.

It was early, but the street was filling up

Don Jose watched his world go by (I'm so in love with him it's embarrassing)

Lisa gets a hug from one of her students

Ok, I get the angel. I like it.

The lawn of the Alcadia. I'm guessing the theme is Christmas trees? I need to go check that out again.

Cathy, Mark and Susan (the pizza was delicious, thanks for sharing!)

May I have some bread, please? No!

After a long day of baking and selling bread (thank you, thank you, bread people!), it was good to fall into the family of Culebra on a celebration night, but it was time to go. I always tend to leave right when the party is getting amped up, with not a shred of wishing I'd stayed later (if anything really exciting happened later, I'll hear about it today). The only drawback of not being at the cart anymore is not seeing a lot of people I care about on a regular basis; the sight of them and time with them now becomes more special .

Life is good.

Have a special feeling Saturday. Do something smiling.