Winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21, 2021 at 10:59 am EST. The Earth's axis is angled away from the sun that causes the northern hemisphere to receive the shortest duration of sunlight. This means that we have arrived at the shortest day and the longest night of the year.
Historically, various cultures celebrate this date as both a time of reflection, and a time of renewal and hope for the days to come. Here at Merry Mount we traditionally gather with a group of friends known as "The Porch Crew" to celebrate the Solstice with food, drink, poetry reading, storytelling, and much merriment. This year we gathered on December 18 & 19. The stories we told were comical, enlightening, and bold.
Winter Evening
When snow falls against the window, Long sounds the evening bell... For so many has the table Been prepared, the house set in order. From their wandering, many Come on dark paths to this gateway. The tree of grace is flowering in gold Out of the cool sap of the earth. In stillness, wanderer, step in: Grief has worn the threshold into stone. But see: in pure light, glowing There on the table: bread and wine.
By Georg Trakl
The Solstice is a time of quietude, of firelight, and dreaming, when seeds germinate in the cold earth, and the cold notes of church bells mingle with the chimes of icicles. Rivers are stilled and the land lies waiting beneath a coverlet of snow. We watch the cold sunlight and the bright stars, maybe go for walks in the quiet land. . . . All around us the season seems to reach a standstill — a point of repose.
- John Matthews
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-Robert Frost
There is a tendency to want to hurry from autumn to spring, to avoid the long dark days that winter brings. Many people do not like constant days bereft of light and months filled with colder temperatures. They struggle with the bleakness of land and the emptiness of trees. Their eyes and hearts seek color. Their spirits tire of tasting the endless gray skies. There is great rejoicing in the thought that light and warmth will soon be filling more and more of each new day.
from The Circle of Life by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr
Winter Solstice
Stop and Observe.
Discover the moments
between Winter and Summer.
Embrace the perpetual change.
The distance between
two points in time
is always
Now.
CPW
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