Soon Solstice and Christmas and New Year, oh my!

Five days from today, on December 22, we will gain 2 seconds of daylight. By Christmas we will have gained 17 seconds. Based on our experience, there’s a lag of several weeks between increased day length and increased temperatures. Sometime after mid-January the normal high temperature should increase from 23℉ to 24℉. Normal daytime highs will creep above freezing late in February. That helps put things in perspective for me and gives me a sense of hope. On the other hand, the coldest, darkest days of winter still lie ahead of us. What better times to practice being kind to our fellow humans?

The Better Half just placed beside my chair our copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas. I’ll be reading and sharing some of them for the next week or so, since the children in our family, regardless of age, are fans of Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings and Christmas is a time of magic and fantasy. If we’re good and lucky, we’ll have enough Christmas magic to carry us through February, by which time we can almost see the hints of spring. (I know, no matter how much I live in the present, the promise of future times intrudes. If this seems curious to you, try reading Wallace Stevens Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.)

Christmas Tide

Eliza Cook - 1818-1889

                    
          When the merry spring time weaves
          Its peeping bloom and dewy leaves;
          When the primrose opes its eye,
          And the young moth flutters by;
          When the plaintive turtle dove
          Pours its notes of peace and love;
And the clear sun flings its glory bright and wide—
          Yet, my soul will own
          More joy in winter's frown,
And wake with warmer flush at Christmas tide.

          The summer beams may shine
          On the rich and curling vine,
          And the noon-tide rays light up
          The tulip's dazzling cup:
          But the pearly misletoe
          And the holly-berries' glow
Are not even by the boasted rose outvied;
          For the happy hearts beneath
          The green and coral wreath
Love the garlands that are twined at Christmas tide.

          Let the autumn days produce
          Yellow corn and purple juice,
          And Nature's feast be spread
          In the fruitage ripe and red;
          ’Tis grateful to behold
          Gushing grapes and fields of gold,
When cheeks are brown'd and red lips deeper dyed:
          But give, oh! give to me
          The winter night of glee,
The mirth and plenty seen at Christmas tide.

          The northern gust may howl,
          The rolling storm-cloud scowl,
          King Frost may make a slave
          Of the river's rapid wave,
          The snow-drift choke the path,
          Or the hail-shower spend its wrath;
But the sternest blast right bravely is defied,
          While limbs and spirits bound
          To the merry minstrel sound,
And social wood-fires blaze at Christmas tide.

          The song, the laugh, the shout,
          Shall mock the storm without;
          And sparkling wine-foam rise
          ’Neath still more sparkling eyes;
          The forms that rarely meet
          Then hand to hand shall greet,
And soul pledge soul that leagues too long divide.
          Mirth, friendship, love, and light
          Shall crown the winter night,
And every glad voice welcome Christmas tide.

          But while joy's echo falls 
          In gay and plenteous halls,
          Let the poor and lowly share
          The warmth, the sports, the fare;
          For the one of humble lot
          Must not shiver in his cot,
But claim a bounteous meed from wealth and pride.
          Shed kindly blessings round,
          Till no aching heart be found;
And then all hail to merry Christmas tide!

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