Burn the Devil, a tradition to kick of the Christmas season in order to discourage all evil from interrupting the festivities. The bottle of booze in his hand and the cigarette in his mouth were the first things to be incinerated- let that be a lesson to you laddy! Piles of noisemakers stuffed into little devil pinatas were stuffed all around his feet and under his evil throne- the explosions when they caught fire lasted nearly forever. Did I mention he wasthoroughlyy doused with gasoline to help along his demise.

This tradition always falls on the day to celebrate the Virgin of Conception. Nearby, was displayed a statue of the Virgin, surrounded by angels, candles and colored Christmas lights (thankfully not the ones that squeak a version of "Jingle Bells" or "Santa Claus is coming to Town" that are so popular in the market!). The ground was covered with pine needles for merriment and the best of festival foods were available.

Actually, Santa Claus and his mini-shirted hooter girls were seen in town at least two weeks ago along with a parade of dancing huge-headed puppet men (its a hard to explain). All the trees in Central park are lit with white lights and the famous mermaid fountain is now glowing an erie red. Luke and I are scheming a bit of snowy fun for that fountain but I might have already said too much.