Happy Solstice, Everyone!

If you’re reading this from the Northern hemisphere, today is the shortest day.  That is, the time from sunrise to sunset is the shortest it’ll be ‘til next year at this time - in Racine, where I live, it’ll be 9hours, 2 minutes, and 4 seconds.  After this, the days get longer – imperceptibly at first, but soon enough the daylight will last noticeably longer.  This is good news for me.  My mood tends to darken perceptibly as the days shorten.  But when the faintest detectable lengthening occurs, my spirits soar, and I suddenly have the energy of ten grinches – times two!   

But that’s all in the future.  Tonight, I revel in the dark.  I may head over to visit the EcoJustice center for their Solstice Celebration tonight.  I’m curious as to what the solstice means to a bunch of hippie catholic nuns.  For me, the solstice means an improvement in my light-mediated personality traits.  (Sorry, but many of my least popular personality traits fluctuate by other less noticeable cycles, and can not be expected to improve after today). 

After visiting the nuns, I’ll see if I can get the chiminea fired up, and move a few loads of firewood onto the deck.  Then, I’ll brew up a batch of Yule Toddy, and kick back with some tunes in front of the fire… maybe read some more of Ocean At The End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman)…  If the skies are clear, I’ll ponder the night sky.  Of course, the snow may hit hard tonight and, if so, I’ll drink those toddies indoors… and substitute a few candles for the bonfire… and be thankful to the predecessors who made possible a cozy night indoors while a storm rages outside.