On the 12th day of Christmas I have some thoughts about Christmas lights (a superficial topic, I know)
Christmas lights are often a wasted opportunity for design innovation and they more often than not rely on temporary structures to support them. Temporary structures that are invisible at night but out of place during the day.
Watching the new year celebrations light dragons in China (using drones to create light sculptures) , the projections on the iconic Sydney opera house or the pink lights in the gardens by the bay in Singapore, one cannot but wonder why we are not more innovative.Ps in Spain , traditional rituals dictate that last night, children would have gone to the three wise men parade to seek their favourite. They would have shouted their name to ensure that they remembered them and would have caught some sweets. Back at home, they would have polished their shoes , placed some treats for the camels by the door and gone to sleep excited.
Today, they would have woken up to some surprises making a lot of noise and many will be having the traditional Roscón de Reyes.
(For anyone wondering what this is about... the Christmas story tells that on the night of the 5th of January -originally I would imagine August - three wise men went to Bethlehem following a star, seeking to present some gifts to the new born. )
Among the adults, some will pretend not to find the bean inside the roscón to avoid paying for the next one (at my mum's office years ago, she used to amuse herself trying to find out who was struggling to swallow the bean on the 5th of January).