Today marks the official beginning of winter. The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year (or the shortest day, depending on how you want to view things), meaning that Light returns on this darkest of nights. Our days begin to – bit by bit – grow longer from this point.
Light is at the heart of so many of our winter holiday celebrations – Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Yule – all involve the idea of light in the gathering darkness of the year. And special foods. Holidays should ALWAYS involve food, in my opinion!
So I did a number of things today involving both light and food. I added oatmeal to the Reverse Advent Calendar box – warm, nourishing, and oh-so-welcome on a cold winter morning! I also spent some time making French bread (again – breadmaker for the win!) and another batch of those espresso brownies so we’d have some for Christmas Day.
I had last minute errands to run that took much longer than I would have thought (four days before Christmas – what WAS I thinking?!?), so my Diva drill today involved a cat nap – with an actual cat! – on the sofa. Cats have this aspect of things absolutely right – curl up and nap whenever the opportunity presents itself.
From the bookshelf today was Entre Nous, which really started by “French journey” five years ago. This is a book I go back to again and again since it delves into French lifestyle in areas ranging from food, to clothing and style, to decorating, to work, to celebrating. I also particularly enjoy the movie and book recommendations that are scattered throughout the text.
For holiday prep, just after sunset, I went out to find the “Star of Bethlehem” conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the southwestern sky. I had also treated myself to a couple of hand-poured candles from a friend – I got two “Goodbye 2020” candles which are infused with herbs and crystals to “clear out the funk of 2020.” I’m letting one burn tonight for Yule and saving the other for New Year’s Eve. Give Brooke’s wares a look – top quality and an amazingly wonderful person to have in your life!
It’s been a hard year, but all years come to an end.
Do not shun the light.
See you tomorrow!
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