this little girl is no anomaly in this crowd. she was one of many children in halloween costume. yes yes, it is not yet halloween; it was the yearly lantern parade around jamaica pond in jamaica plain. this parade began in 1984 when people gathered to make a journey with their candle-lit lanterns. around 4,000 people arrived at the pond around sunset, and all children were dressed up in their halloween costumes. it was soooo cute!as the website spontaneous celebrations says: "The Lantern Parade has it's cultural roots in Japanese lantern making and Dutch tradition. It reflects our dedication to building community by exploring old and creating new cultural traditions." eeehhmm, dutch tradition? really? i do remember we had "lampionnenoptocht" (lantern parade), and the lanterns were from colorful paper, on a long stick. (here they were made from cut off soda bottles.. :)) but is it a real dutch tradition? (also, i do not remember whether i ever joined such a parade other than as a spectator) and wikipedia lets me down on this one....
anyways, it was real pretty to see all these small lights going around the pond, and it was a beautiful part of boston we had not yet discovered...
