St. Maarten

Date of occurrence:
November 11, 2013.

There is no such thing as Halloween in the Netherlands, but St. Maarten bears a close resemblance to it. Each year in the early evening of November 11th, the children go from door to door carrying lanterns and singing songs or reciting poems in order to gather up as much candy as they can.

Its origin stems from an old harvest festival which precedes the fasting period of Advent and is named after St. Maarten of Tours who was well known for his kindness to strangers. Although the children don't dress up, it is fun hearing them sing and admiring their usually home-made lanterns.

And today is the day that Levi's lantern is lit on St. Maarten for the first time in his life.

It is already exciting being outside in the dark after bedtime.

It is even more thrilling being allowed to carry a lantern with a real light in it.

The most exhilarating is getting candy just for ringing the doorbell since I doubt our little guy was able to sing an entire song.

Taking his age into consideration, he may have slipped in a few words here and there. At least he got to show off his light. That is nothing new though.

His light shines bright every day!