Lantern Walk

Lantern Walk: Keeping the spark alive within when it is cold outside. 

A couple of weeks ago now (the time is really flying by way too quickly), I took a night off of seeing clients, and went to a lantern walk for my granddaughter’s preschool. We joke about it being a hippie preschool (more connective than competitive) and it is in a little house where they sing and bake and create community with 3 and 4 year olds. Audrey likes going, and for Erin it is a break from mostly full-time mothering. 

For this particular twilight activity; the children had made their own decoupage and tissue paper (and lined with non-flammable tape) lanterns. They were beautiful. The lake where we were gathering was not far from Erin and Andy and Audrey’s house, and so we (Megan and I) all drove there together. It was sweet to see the parents and children pile out of cars, hats and gloves on, and walk toward the edge of the lake. It was a chilly night, in between warm autumn days and cold fall nights. One of the preschool teachers was giving out pumpkin muffins (delicious), and the other was preparing to tell a story with a backdrop of sunset and reeds. 

As the story began, I was taken in by the simplicity of the story, (of the sun giving fire to man to keep warm with through the dark winter) and by the beauty of this woman’s voice in the still of the evening. The children were enraptured by the storytelling and I felt connected to all the people who ever listened to stories with the sky overhead and the wind on my face. Such a simple reminder, to keep the spark alive when it is cold outside. How to do this? 

After the story, the lanterns were lit with votive candles inside. They sang their lovely lantern song and we began to walk the walking path. When the wind would blow out a child’s lantern, someone nearby had a lighter to light it again. There we were, walking with our children, for me, walking with my daughters, my soon to be son-in-law, and my precious granddaughter, this keeps me warm inside. This keeps my lantern lit, knowing that I am a part of a family, knowing that there is safety and warmth and love and support. Having someone come up on the walk and offer you more muffins made it enchanting. Keeping rituals keeps us grounded. 

I get cold easily, and so towards the end, I was the first to leave the walk for the warmth of my car, and to sit in the quiet. I want to remember this all, I want to have more time for stories told outside, for walks outside, for a slower pace. Winter is coming, and I need to make sure to keep my lantern lit until May.