6 posts tagged “solstice”

Happy Holidays!

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Happy holidays and safe travel to all my Voxter friends!!

Reindeer 9 cc

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Hope Santa is good to everyone!

Blizzard 2 cc

Happy Winter Solstice everyone! We're expected to get ten more inches of snow today. Maine is expecting twenty!! I feel especially grateful today.

Several of my friends from grad school are still without power after the last ice storm, and are not expected to have any until after Christmas. We are blessed that we escaped the chaos. Happy Hannukkah and Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa to everyone here.

Happy Yule to all my fellow Pagans here on Vox. Bless you all.

Reindeer

Here is a Native American prayer:

Great Spirit, give us hearts to understand

Never to take from creation’s beauty more than we can give

Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed

Never to deny to give us our hands for the building of Earth’s beauty

Never to take from her what we cannot use.

O no, cat lept into the tree!

I was just discussing this with Mark - we don't have a tree yet. Part of it is the money crunch but mostly it's

1. My fear of fires

2. My black thumb

I really love decorating for Solstice. We usually buy a Norfolk Island pine And no, it does not hold ornaments well. I've killed 2 already. And yes, I know they are "impossible to kill". Thanks for rubbing it in.  ;)

Doomed

Plus which they are not native to here, so I can't plant them in the spring. We won't buy fake trees because of the chemicals and it's terrible for the environment. Big trees, well much more of a fire hazard plus I had cats growing up so I've had enough of cat-lept-into-the-pine catastrophes.

Anyone know how to care for Norfolk pines?

Plum

 Winter Solstice is a very special time for me. Here's why.

* Winter sights: The reflectivity of the snow makes everything bright. Evening glows with outdoor lights.

Winter colors make for killer outfits. Plum and berry can grace scarves and tops. Sparkly silver and black outfits to wear at Solstice parties, and snowflake earrings.

* Getting outdoors: Many people get depressed in the winter, including me. I go running - it warms me up. It's empowering and fun. Sounds are louder because the ground is frozen. Bird songs resonate. Chickadees and blue jays hop around in conifer trees and snatch nuts and berries all around the forest.

* My mugs: Of course after a long run outdoors, a mug of hibiscus tea is necessary. We love collecting winter mugs with winter sprites or reindeer on them.

* Smells: are divine in winter. The spiraling smoke from a chimney. The smell of hot beverages brewing. Vegetable soups. The cinnamoney smell of chai tea. And conifers' needles.Crush the needles and smell them.

* Conifers: Winter is great because the conifers really get center stage. Scotch pine bark turns a butterscotch color after the tree turns 2 years old. We can identify douglas fir needles by crushing them - they smell like tangerines!

Hornbill4-800

Here is a small Solstice gift to you all. It's not much but I am introducing you guys to the Internet Bird Collection. Our Ornithology professor showed this website to us the other day. I swear, you cannot possibly be sad when you watch these videos!

The trick is to click on this IBC link. It will automatically begin a video of some bird you've probably never seen before. Then hit the back button and then the forward button - and a new video will load each time. Hours of fun!!

You may get to see a helmeted hornbill from Bala Hala national park in Kenya, or a gang gang cockatoo from Victoria, Australia. The gray-breasted mountain toucan of Brazil. Or the highly endangered red-billed curassow from the Linhares Biological Preserve in Brazil.

If you don't like the bird you see, just click your back button and try again. There are so many incredible, funny, cool birds that will cheer you up, guaranteed.The least pygmy owl of Brazil looks just like that owl that was on Mister Roger's Land of Make-Believe. The helmeted hornbill is my favorite though.

Happy Solstice, early.

Reindeer

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A HAPPY, HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE TO MY BELOVED VOX FRIENDS.

Peace, warmth, lots of colorful lights and good wishes. Love you all. I shall take great advantage of my winter break to visit!                                     

Kisses.