As Solstice approaches...

The Better Half [BH] spent much of this morning whipping together dough for Christmas cookies, while I baked a loaf of artisan sourdough whole wheat bread. As the bread finished cooling, BH started baking cookies. Working at the kitchen counter, there's a view through the walkout doors to the deck that was dazzling this morning with the sun-brightened snow cover. All in all we had one of the more pleasant mornings to come along in awhile.

Winter sunrise

Photo by J. Harrington

Family have been hinting that my Christmas list was more than a little on the sparse side. Since most of my needs and wants can be readily met, it took some serious thinking to come up with additions, almost all of which have to do with fly fishing. That's left me in a looking-forward-to-Spring mode with all of Winter and then some still ahead of us. If we had made more trips to some of the waters open to Winter fishing, ... but no, we hadn't. So now we're feeling a bit like the atheist wearing a tuxedo in a coffin, all dressed up with no place to go.

cookies for every occasion

Photo by J. Harrington

Back in our younger days, we made occasional trips to the Rexberg, Idaho area to fly fish in the Summer. It was always a challenge to wait until the snow melt runoff had ended and the waters were more fishable. We may be looking at something similar around here with the high waters we have going into Winter. That's something to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, there's Christmas cookies and New Year's cookies and Valentines cookies and we'll research to see if there's such a thing as Winter Solstice cookies or Imbolc cookies. According to Druidry, this time of year

... the words of the Druid ceremony ask "Cast away, O wo/man whatever impedes the appearance of light." In darkness we throw on to the ground the scraps of material we have been carrying that signify those things which have been holding us back, ...

During the next few weeks, we're going to see if we can identify those scraps of material we want to throw on the ground as the year is being reborn. As we get older, the fewer things impeding the appearance of light, the more delight we find in our days. May your holiday season be full of light and  love.

The Coming of Light

Mark Strand - 1934-2014

Even this late it happens:
the coming of love, the coming of light. 
You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves, 
stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows, 
sending up warm bouquets of air.
Even this late the bones of the body shine 
and tomorrow's dust flares into breath.

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