Solstice Turning

Oh Boy! We get more daylight today! Whatever shall we do with the whole four seconds? And then tomorrow, how many more added on? My biggest question, of course , with such a tiny increase, however did the ancients figure out the exact point in the year so they could carve it in stone, mark it for all the generations to come, so we'd all know exactly when to celebrate the return of the sun? When you know the right places to look, the proper temples, the exact right time, and see the short flash of light coming across the ground, through the mountains, between the holes in the ancient rocks to alight so briefly on the well carved spot on a long waiting wall, how can it not give you pause, a flash of awe that people we belittle as primitive for living with the earth instead of finding new ways to destroy it, could have done something so precise and worked so many years to leave it for future generations of whatever beings were to come? They came, they went, things changed... except for the rocks, and the sun, and their marked stone calendars, still precise to the moment.

Hmmm, four seconds more light, the weatherman said. How many of us could notice it? How many would find time in our busy schedules to mark it, to plan something to fill that time which wasn't there yesterday because it was still filled with dark?

I've just filled mine, by writing here to acknowledge it. More than four, of course. But I designate them as noted, used well. Light is starting to peep in around the edges of the blinds behind the little X-mas tree, waiting to have the light strings plugged in, starting the old fashioned bubbler lights dancing, wrapped packages finally stacked below. Myriad other tasks await, a holiday approaches, and we celebrate it, not as the Church would have us do, but as love demands. Perhaps that is the true point.

Family is invited, along with a few friends, to share it with us. Food is already being prepared, because much of it takes a few days of work, and some things which don't actually take that much time get fit in ahead too, so the DAY OF isn't total chaos dissolving into anger, defeating the purpose. Even the host(ess) needs some time to relax, to appreciate the festivities and the people ready to share them. As it turns out, it takes way more than those extra four seconds, or tomorrow's added bounty of time, or the next day's. With enough advance work, even the host(ess) can pause just to enjoy those seconds, instead of rushing through them without respite, or without thoughts of anything but things yet undone.

Traditional holiday music fills the house for a few days. We here no longer call it holy, as beliefs have changed since childhood. But it is still a time of nostalgia. That  music takes us back to the people still alive then, their celebrations, their love, the excitement of gifts from Santa, and if we are still of the right age and situation, we work to provide that for our own next generation(s). If you were as lucky as I was, gifted with a voice that, while not of perfect pitch, could not only hold a tune but sing in harmony as well, each tune brings back memories and the urge to sing along... what were those words again? To the third verse? OK, we'll hum this time, it still counts, like in T-ball, for participation. Singing voices not used for years sometimes can come back over such a long history of traditions, whatever they mean now, because they are a caress to the best of the past at this time of year. 

And if tears join them, who's to complain?