This weekend’s blizzard dropped an immeasurable foot or two of snow at Blithewold and sculpted it in great drifts and wavelets. No need for dreaming (though the song is spinning endlessly in my head) because we’ve got the real deal – more white stuff than we’ve had all at once in a while and it looks like it will stick around for the week. With any luck, Christmas will be just like the ones we used to know.

And the darkest day is so brilliantly bright! Today the sun stands still before it begins it’s optimistic climb back north to June. You probably already know that this is my favorite holiday – or second favorite anyway, after Groundhog’s Day. I always like to think that the shift away from the shortest day will be immediately noticeable even if the coldest day is still a month or two away. (-Relatively warm ocean temperatures traditionally keep any day in December from being the very coldest – although with this wind, it feels like it’s right down there.) So I’m wearing my sunglasses and celebrating the solstice: I’m listening to the carols of ice sliding off the greenhouse panes; I’ve looked for tracks in the snow; and I’m going to wrap my mind around the toasty-warm promises of spring and summer. How do you celebrate the solstice?

Happy Holidays everyone!