Farolitos and Luminarias on Ledoux Street Taos, NM
New Mexico has a tradition of lighting Farolitos and Luminarias during the holidays. Above are brown paper bags with a bit of sand and small candle placed inside for illumination. Small bonfires are also lit. The other pastime in New Mexico, other than discussing which is better, red or green chile, is to argue if the bags are called luminarios and the small bonfires are called firelitos, or is it the other way around? I prefer to call the scene above bag-a-litos so there is no mistake about it….
I spent the month of December 2013 in Taos searching for a specific Christmas scene. An adobe wall and gate with a Christmas wreath, snow and some bag-a-litos. Not only did I not find such a gate, but there was hardly any snow in December. So the search goes on. Ledoux Street was made famous in part by the Navajo artist, R.C. Gorman.