Great Bags Of Fire!

Well, tonight was supposed to be the neighborhood luminary night. Once a year we all get together and line the sidewalks with white paper bags with candles. It's very pretty, especially when the whole street participates, and people go out and stroll through the neighborhood. It raises some money for the local food pantry and brings us all together.

This evening was windy. Really windy. I'm going to assume that the wind strength was different at the house of the person who had the final word on whether to go ahead or hold off for another week, because otherwise that person is just a lunatic. In any case, word came down that it was a go.

My neighbors and I looked at each other and shrugged and then bent into the wind to put out the bags and light the candles. I know I was making "To Build A Fire" jokes the other day, but have you ever tried to light a candle in gusty winds? My neighbors lit theirs (in the bags) inside the house and carefully brought each one out. I have cats. I don't light flames inside my house.

In any case, they got half of theirs outside. I managed to get one candle lit, and while I was preparing the next one a gust of wind came and knocked the first bag over (extinguishing the candle) and lit the one next to it on fire.

Since it was supposed to be "Luminary Night" not "Flaming Bags of Terror Night" we gave up and went inside. During my run later in the evening it looked like some people managed to keep theirs lit and others gave up. Not really the moment of neighborhood togetherness we were hoping for. Oh well.