3,500 luminarias and I'm beat

This was the week-end of the Luminaria. They're big in New Mexico. A state park in the area puts out luminarias for a beautiful Christmas time celebration each year. Local businesses and families set up campsites and decorate their rigs with lights and Christmas stuff, they put out loads of home made foods, free food I'm tellin' ya (some people give donations though), and boats in the lake are dressed up in their Christmas finery and float in a boat parade. It's a sight to see.

Friday afternoon we and 20 other volunteers scooped sand into paper sacks, placed a candle inside each, pulled the wick straight on each candle, and set them aside. Saturday morning we set them out in the park along the roadway, around sites, and one mile in each direction outside the park approaching the entrance. Before dusk, my husband and I lit all the luminarias on the highway outside the park. 'Twas a bit of a walk and farther than I thought! Those paper sacks went way down the road as far as the eye could see. Saturday night we were at the state park campsite to dish out food and chat with visitors.

There were 3,000 visitors last year. More this year but I don't know how many yet. All totaled we volunteers put out 3,500 luminaria. Do volunteers rock or what!

Nothing exactly hurts but my back is achy what with all the bending over. I was lucky too. Instead of a butane barbeque lighter which is brutal for lighting a few hundred candles inside lunch sacks, I had a butane torch. Yeah baby! I torched those candles alight.

It was fun. I can't wait to do it again next year. But it will be fine with me if I don't see another paper sack until then!