I have fond memories of that special day each December when parols were purchased and hung (with light bulb inside) outside our home. Sometimes it would be just one parol and other years my mom would splurge and get several. Until the 1980’s, she exclusively purchased lanterns made out of papel de japon and bamboo—they were, and still are, my absolute favorite. I personally liked the plain white lanterns though we occasionally got red or green ones to go along with the holiday color scheme. After the season, the parols were thrown out and the next year new ones purchased. There is something so comforting about the fact that they only lasted a few weeks… All that work and then it was discarded… The white parols in this first photo are all home made… we just put them up yesterday and while simple and plebeian, they really signal good things to come in the weeks ahead…