I'm walking with my bright lantern...

Don't you just love Sunday afternoons? Long, lazy afternoons enjoying good food and family. Growing up, a Sunday afternoon walk would often make an appearance, but with the girls naps, its a bit trickier these days. Yesterday, however, we donned our coats at about 4pm and headed out into the cold, evening light.

One of my favourite traditions that I picked up when I lived in Austria, was that of Laternenlauf - walking with lanterns. It's a German tradition, in mid-November, that the little children walk the streets in the evening with lanterns lit to symbolise Jesus as the light of the world. Its timing is linked to the celebration of a Christian man called Martin who helped a beggar in a snowstorm (the festival is called Sankt Martin)

So on Sunday evening we headed out (the camera has actually managed to make it look lighter than it was!) and a little lady was extremely excited to be carrying a lantern with a real tealight in it (it was enclosed and very secure!)

She walked very carefully, and sang one of her favourite lantern songs the whole way round...

Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne,

Und meine Laterne mit mir

Dort oben leuchten die Sterne

Und unten leuchten wir

Mein Licht is aus, ich geh nach Haus,

Ra-bimmel, Ra-bammel, Ra-bum...

I'm walking with my bright lantern

And my lantern's walking with me

Above the bright stars are shining

And down here its us you can see

My light is low, so home I'll go

Dum-diddle, dum-diddle, dum-dee...

We took a nice walk round the park, and she held tight to that little lantern the whole way round.

And as we walked, the little lantern shined brighter as the darkness got deeper. I do love these autumn heading into winter evenings.