The year is ending

I discarded Christmas some years ago, not being interested in either the religious or the commercial basis of the holiday. I have not yet put in place any rituals for celebrating the winter solstice, and I may not need to. This year, I walked around all day, cherishing the knowledge that it was mid-winter, and that the light WOULD begin to return. That was all I really needed.

A friend has a link to this on her blog, and I greatly appreciated it.The Christians and the Pagans, by Dar Williams.

As the seasons cycle, the year is over. I survived, with my mind more-or-less intact, through midwinter, and can now look towards the future more easily. At home, life is a little easier for having created adaptations to some of the things that broke/malfunctioned in our home this year. I cherish the donation of time and labor, for the fixing of my partner's bicycle, which is his means of transport and independence.  I have done further research on nuts I want to plant, nitrogen-fixing shrubs I want, and economical sources of Black Hawthorne to begin creation of a perimeter hedge around my property. Cob construction looks like an interesting building technique. I can make mud pies! I am having thoughts about designing and building a small mud-pie bath-house on my property. Water to be solar/Rocket Stove heated. The ideas abound.

Black Hawthorne