Carols by (one)candle-light

It's nearing the end of the school year (next week holidays start!), and my son's school decided to put on a picnic and carols-by-candlelight before everyone disappears into the woodwork.

Friday night was the big event. The kids had practiced singing and marching and were dressed in the required "white shirt and jeans" (schools! will they ever just let the kids be spontaneous?), while parents came armed with picnic blankets, food and candles. Each kid had to bring a non-drippy holder for a candle, and would light it as they went forward to do their thing.

It being summer, the day was nice and warm.

It being the Cape, the south-easter was in full swing!

We managed to make it through our picnic without too many re-arrangements of blown-away picnic blankets, without too many leaves ending up in our food or hard berries dropping off the trees into the Coke or on our heads. There was the occasional runaway paper plate, nothing too serious. But when it came candle-lighting time, not a single candle could be lit! I had brought glasses to put mine in, but the wind simply swept right down the convenient tunnel of glass and snuffed them out. The kids had even less luck - matches flared briefly, then went out. So the "candlelight" aspect of the event was scrapped.

They'd set up a soundsystem and mic on the lawn, to amplify small voices and lead in singing carols. The wind created a couple of very interesting effects, and only by straining could we hear said small voices. It also took out a few music stands and props, revealing that the stage was nothing more than a blanket covered row of crates (and tossing the blanket onto a nearby family).

Needless to say, the second the final "amen" was said, everyone did a mad dash for their cars.

And the single candle mentioned in the heading? A lucky parent managed to light one and keep it going the entire time. I honestly don't know how they did it. If they try this event next year, perhaps it should be called "Carols by Smouldering Wicks".