Christmas in Old Santa Fe

Book excerpt: The special customs and traditions of the Christmas season in Santa Fe, New Mexico are carefully and clearly explained in this book that has become a classic. Lightly falling snow, covering everything in sight with a soft mantle of white, burning luminarias and mellow-light farolitos, the warm adobe architecture, the peace and quiet that settles over the land on Christmas Eve, all tend to strengthen the comparison between Santa Fe and the land where Christ was born. At no time of year is it more apparent that Santa Fe, New Mexico is a foreign city still relying on the traditions of the past. Pedro Ribera Ortega's richly descriptive book gives all the details, including the difference between luminarias and farolitos, in case you have lived in Santa Fe all your life and still do not know the difference.