This is the season of the long night and the leafless tree. The cold seeps into our bones and life sleeps beneath the soil. ….. We know that the worst of the winter is yet to come, and we must endure this, but the solstice sun is reborn and, with it, our hopes for growing light and warmth. In the depths of winter, summer plants its seed and the dark stillness explodes with starlight.
~ Maria Ede-Weaving
(The Essential Book of Druidry: Connect with the Spirit of Nature)
Oh my …. beautiful words that are perfect for today’s celebratory event.
Thank you, Frank — I’m happy you enjoyed them!
Beautiful pairing of the arts for this time of year! I especially like the lady and the child. The chestnut trees really make the scene feel really cold.
We woke to a dreary looking day here, but the temperatures today are very pleasant.
I am across town this morning and the landscape looks like the dead of a southern winter with dark rain clouds. I certainly will take a few more minutes of sunlight trying to peek through the gloom of the slow moving clouds.
Thank you, TD! I’m glad you enjoyed the combination. The painting resonated with me so much, bringing up memories of what winter used to be like, bundling up like that to go out in the cold cold snow. For some reason I remember January and February as being sunny and cold, getting brighter day by day after the damp and dreary December days. Sometimes the sunshine reflected so brightly off the snow we had to squint our eyes. Sparkling icicles….
What a lovely quote you’ve found to accompany this post! On the one hand, I realize we’ve barely touched winter here, but on the other, I’m longing for Spring! My late dad used to say that after Christmas, when the daylight slowly started getting longer, we were getting closer to Spring day by day. We haven’t had any snow yet (but we haven’t seen much of the sun either. Sigh.)
Thank you, Debbie! I can definitely feel the year turning at the solstice, some primal tug tells me things will be getting brighter day by day. I would agree 100% with your dad. It’s so noticeable, the reversal of the plunge into darkness. I used to notice that about Christmas, too, before I knew anything about the astronomy of it all. We’ll have to see what the groundhog tells about spring’s arrival in a little over a month. 🙂
I like the painting and I like the quotation and I can feel the cold just looking at the photo you’ve chosen. I am happy that we are creeping toward Summer, albeit slowly.
I’m glad you liked the combination, Linda. All in good time the seasons come and go and it’s nice to know the change is, for the most part, gradual.
How true and beautiful! ❤️
Thank you, Donna! ❤️
“We know that the worst of the winter is yet to come”, yet for me, I know that the worst of summer is yet to come … and I’m already struggling with the heat! Beautiful words by Maria Ede-Weaving, Barbara. 🙂
Thank you, Joanne! Recently I’ve been hearing short news clips about floods from heavy rains in Australia and have wondered if you’ve been affected. I’m struggling with cold mornings here, although afternoons have been pleasant enough. 🙂
Our home is on high ground, so we are not affected by floodwater here. Losing power for five hours on Christmas night is the worst we’ve had, but even that wasn’t a problem – I just needed to reset the digital clocks on the microwave and wall oven the next morning.
It sounds like you need to snuggle up in the mornings, but those cold mornings will pass. That is what I tell myself when the heat gets to me anyway. 🙂
That’s good to know, I’m glad you live up on high ground. I remember the pictures you’ve posted of Mount Warning in the past. You seemed to be high up, looking out over a valley of sugar cane (?) towards the mountain. Short power outages are okay but I worry about food spoiling in the fridge and freezer if they last for too long. We would miss the air-conditioning in the worst of the summer heat, too! I tell myself that, too. No situation lasts forever!
Blessed Alban Arthan
Many blessings, Elisa. 🙏