“i heard a bird sing in the dark of december.
a magical thing.
and sweet to remember.
we are nearer to spring than we were in september.
i heard a bird sing in the dark of december.”
-oliver herford
picture from a past solstice celebration
—
every year
one of my favorite things to teach and share with my class
is the story and traditions of the winter solstice
i get to play the sun
the children play the tilting earth and the seasons
who spin and dance and throw snow
as the season changes
the sun stays in the middle
offering extra light
to the other side of the earth now tilting toward it
knowing it will always return to them
even as our days grow shorter
they quietly rest on the ground
waiting, waiting
only to emerge
when the time is right
happy to dance once more
in the light of the warm spring sun.
—
*notes: here is my recipe for the winter solstice, and many thanks to all for your low-tech special effects support of this performance: torn paper snowflakes made by the children, many smiles, a bit of dizziness, a sun doing an interpretive dance, a person to turn off and on the classroom lights at just the right moment, a flashlight, a yellow paper sun, a dj to play the music (‘carol of the bells’ by george winston, and ‘here comes the sun’ by the beatles) at just the right time, and a class full of kinder/whirling twirling planets throwing snow, lying down, and awakening as emerging new life in the spring when the sun returns. somehow it all falls into place, each year a bit differently, as is the way of the world.
—
“spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. joy is the essence of life.”
-agnivesh
“we must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact
that each moment is a miracle and mystery.”
-h.g. wells
—
on daylight savings time day once again – fall back
—
image credit: ‘fir forest’ painting by gustav klimt
“Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now how comfortable it will be to touch the earth instead of the nothingness of the air and the endless freshets of wind? And don’t you think the trees, especially those with mossy hollows, are beginning to look for the birds that will come – six, a dozen – to sleep inside their bodies? And don’t you hear the goldenrod whispering goodbye, the everlasting being crowned with the first tuffets of snow? The pond stiffens and the white field over which the fox runs so quickly brings out its long blue shadows. The wind wags its many tails. And in the evening the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way.”
~Mary Oliver, “Song for Autumn”
—
art credit: willowday flower project by gina, stockholm
signs of change are all around us.
—
“the crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever.
even on the most beautiful days in the whole year –
the days when summer is changing into autumn –
the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.”
– E.B. White
“august of another summer,
and once again I am drinking the sun
and the lilies again are spread across the water.”
-mary oliver
—
gallup park, ann arbor, mi, usa – august 2022
yes it was yesterday, i think they may have over-celebrated and lost count.
the fairy dance
the soft stars are shining,
the moon is alight;
the folk of the forest
are dancing tonight:
o swift and gay
is the song that they sing:
they float and sway
as they dance in a ring.
o seek not to find them,
the wee folk so fair;
they’re shy as the swallow
and swift as the air:
if you come, they are gone
like a snowflake in may:
like a breath, like a sigh,
they vanish away.
-katherine davis (1892-1980)
—
image source: peter gray’s vintage art and postcards
“the sweet, small, clumsy feet of april came into the ragged meadow of my soul.”
-e.e. cummings
—
art credit: Salvador Dali ‘Flowers’ 1948
now is this isn’t a sure sign of spring, i don’t know what is…
—
“spring makes its own statement,
so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of his instruments,
not the composer.”
-geoffrey charlesworth
—
Art credit: Margaret Tarrant – The Fairy Troupe / Spring’s Flowery Cloak. Circa 1920s painting. A female sprite with a blue cloak shepherds tiny fairies and elves, each carrying a spring flower, through the undergrowth. Published by the Medici Society.
and once again
the meaningless disruption
of daylight savings time
has returned
leaving
many of us
unmoved by it.
—
“There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”
-bill watterson, calvin and hobbes
—
image credit: wallhere.com
I didn't have my glasses on.... 