Happy Solstice!

Okay gardeners, we've made it to the shortest day and starting tomorrow, daylight will begin increasing again.  Today is also the first day of winter.  Since reading this post by Ann Lovejoy, I've been revising my ideas about winter a bit but still long for warmer days.

Thirty years ago today, solstice magic brought Tom and me together.  Yikes, that's a long time.  We may celebrate by going to the Heronswood Solstice Celebration if the weather isn't hideous.  Wind gusts of 60 plus miles per hour are predicted for Thursday (As I write this, on Thursday morning, the wind is already rattling the windows and things are bumping around outside.  The strongest winds are yet to come.)  so trees may blow down, power may be out, etc. 

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night ling

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, revelling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us - Listen!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, fest, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year. 

Welcome Yule!

Some years, I go all out with decorations; other years, the boxes of baubles in the basement wait for another time  This year falls into the latter category.  When working  to declutter the computer room/library, I came across this little plastic tree that plugs into a usb port and put it on the desk where I blog.  The business card holder and silver nest of glass eggs always live there.  They seem a good group to celebrate the rebirth of light and hope for spring's new life.  

Here's a little more light for the day.

Nice to be prepared for a possible power outage. We've never lost power due to wind although one year a car hit a power pole and a whole neighborhood went dark for a couple of hours.  

Prayer at Winter Solstice 

by Dana Gioia

Blessed is the road that keeps us homeless.

Blessed is the mountain that blocks our way.

Blessed are hunger and thirst, loneliness and all forms of desire.

Blessed is the labor that exhausts us without end.

Blessed are the night and the darkness that blinds us.

Blessed is the cold that teaches us to feel.

Blessed are the cat, the child, the cricket, and the crow.

Blessed is the hawk devouring the hare.

Blessed are the saint and sinner who redeem each other.

Blessed are the dead, calm in their perfection.

Blessed is the pain that humbles us.

Blessed is the distance that bars our joy.

Blessed is this shortest day that makes us long for light.

Blessed is the love that in losing we discover.

Happy Solstice all.  Keep warm, dry, and safe!