Narration by @loretosocorro:
Metallic filaments, which previously slept like minerals in the shelter of the earth's crust, and now are light with glitter, colors and shapes to illuminate and adorn our streets.
In its early days, in the finest German homes and in the XNUMXth century, Christmas decorations and lights were a private pleasure. Trees were decorated with painted nuts, apples ... The little trees were lit with candles in small candlesticks or tied with gates, until the electricity arrived. The fruits were exchanged for colored balls and the custom of beautifying for Christmas became a matter that the community transferred from the privacy of the home to the facades of houses and to the streets, squares and other spaces that society shared.
The Christmas lights are something more than the announcement of the arrival of "The Light" to the world, when celebrating the Nativity of the Messiah. Before that, logs were lit with the belief that the glow of the embers was the prayer, made of dim light, that begged for the return of the sun.
Christmas does not begin in our cities until the always friendly gesture of the "Christmas Ignition" is made, promoted by city councils, councils or business associations and which is usually accompanied by other acts that enhance it even more.
It is endearing to see the trees outside decked out with garlands and ribbons of lights. The palm trees and laurels of the Canarian streets shine among the cold, the mist and the haze with a flicker that can only be felt during winter festivals.
With the glare of these lights, happiness is given to passersby because, walking through a more colorful and bright city, fosters a feeling of joy that, according to neurologists, is due to a slight hormonal change where dopamine rises as a result of the dressings Christmas
Perhaps this is the reason why Christmas, each time, "begins" earlier. A desire to arrive early to that state of happiness and longing for better times where life was simpler.
The Christmas lights resonate in each one in a different way, according to their own experiences, but if someone likes to celebrate Christmas they are essential because the effect of their colors and their brightness gives our brains the ability to capture the environment with more nuances than never, to be vigilant and to develop a desire for punctual happiness.
The Light in the Canary Islands is special, for the cinema, for photography, for the spirits… And when the sun goes down the night lights at Christmas are the glows of red, green and white candles in the Advent Wreaths. They are candles in the heads of the Swedish Lucías, twinned with the Canarian Lucías and, above all, they are incandescence in roundabouts, squares, streets and facades of our towns and cities.
So that the glow of these decorations continues to illuminate our interior, let's look outside carefully and enjoy the city with Christmas clothes.
