Tag Archives: winter solstice

Dec21

essence of life.

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 picture from a past solstice celebration

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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.

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*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. 

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“spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. joy is the essence of life.”

-agnivesh

Dec21

this is the solstice.

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“this is the solstice,

the still point of the sun,

it’s cusp and midnight,

the year’s threshold and unlocking,

where the past lets go of and becomes the future;

the place of caught breath,

the door of a vanished house left ajar.”

-margaret atwood

 

 

 

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art credit: Alica Block

Dec21

on the solstice.

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“snow was falling,

so much like stars filling the dark trees

that one could easily imagine

its reason for being

was nothing more than prettiness.”

— mary oliver

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credits: Faerie Magazine – ‘The Meeting Point’
Original painting in mixed media by Kerry Darlington

Dec21

happy winter solstice.

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portlandmaine.com

“And 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 long
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, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.”

― Susan Cooper ( children’s author and first woman to edit oxford university’s paper)

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image credit:portlandmaine.com

Dec21

a little something to warm you on this dark and stormy solstice day

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my children, friends, family, co-workers, and visitors of all kinds, know that i love my coffee. new, old, freshly ground, from a bag, from a tin, just dripped, just perked, re-heated, from all corners of the world, as well as the local coffee shop, gas station, or grocery.

when i make my own pot of coffee, i love it strong, black, with a bit of cream. i love to heat what’s left, in the microwave, or on the stove, over and over, until it’s all gone. it gets stronger and thicker and more potent with time. my daughters have taken to calling it my ‘chernobyl blend,’ my version of ‘turkish prison coffee.’ at least i know i could survive most any coffee, most anywhere i may find myself, be it a prison, a truck stop, or at home in my own cottage kitchen. and that’s a life skill.

here’s wishing you a hot cup of coffee, however you most like it, wherever you may be, on this, the shortest day of the year. and if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by my cottage in the morning, for a cup of my own special blend. we’ll share a pot, and toast to the beginning of a return to the long and brighter days of sun. happy winter solstice!

                                      If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.  –Abraham Lincoln

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