It seems that I have complained about my relationship with the ‘Hallmark-type-Christmas-Holiday’ here and here, so there is no need to beat a dead horse.

Instead, let’s talk about something that I love.

I don’t recall ever hearing the words ‘Winter Solstice’ when I was growing up. Maybe it was because I come from an uber-conservative sect of christianity that might have considered marking this day as contradictory to the belief system. But not so! As far as I can tell, it fits into everyone’s system – we’re all here on the planet with these astronomical events happening all of the time – and I don’t want to miss any more of them.

Such a gigantic, celestial occurence seems to be overlooked by so many. If you went outside and paid attention, you would have known that the sun spent the day in a super-low arc in the sky. My favorite golden orb was framed by windows in my house that seldom see it since it spends most of the year much higher in the sky. It cast nice, long shadows – the longest of the year, in fact. Sadly, so many folks left that unwitnessed.

Dennis and the boys indulged my devotion to the day that the sun comes back. I need longer days! We lit luminaries on the front steps, candles in the house and a fire in the hearth – and we haven’t done that in a long time. I thought I was pushing my luck presenting them with an evening of building graham cracker houses. Turns out, they enjoyed it way more than I thought they would.

I often find it hard to feel joy during this frantic time of year, but I made it through the darkest night with the ones I love, and that makes me feel happy and hopeful.  I will continue to build solstice celebrations into my household traditions in the coming years. You must know how much I love the opposing solstice, right?