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Sunday, December 21, 2025

Merry Solstice!

27°f/-2.8C, mostly clear. Warmed into the low 50's. Nice day.

Wishing you all comfort and warmth on this longest night, at least for us in the northern hemisphere!


My favorite poem for this day:

The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper 

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us—Listen!!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

 

A quiet welcome here at home.


The wheel turns, and around we go again. Welcome to the Oak King! Goodbye, Holly King!





Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

14 comments:

  1. I have only been to one wine-tasting party in my life -- in a faraway and a long ago time.

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  2. Lovely poem and photos. Happy Solstice! Thank you so much for sharing.

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  3. ...after winter, spring always looks great.

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  4. Great poem. Happy Solstice 🎄

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  5. "...and hope for peace. And so do we here, now, this year and every year." Very nice. I hope you have a wonderful, peaceful Christmas.

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  6. Your home is so cozy. I can't belive you reached the 50s though
    This weather is so chageable!

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  7. Yeah, the days are starting to get longer! While spring is still a long ways off, we have something to look forward to!

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  8. I understand why this is your favorite Winter Solstice poem. :)

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  9. I love that poem. I've never read it before - 'And hope for peace' - don't we all?

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  10. A nice quiet evening by the fire, excellent way to start the new turning.

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  11. Glad you took note of the shortest day!

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  12. I am learning so much about the Celtics, just from reading your blog posts and then Googling. Since my ancestry is mostly Norwegian but also Scot and English, I feel a bond with the Celts. Nice picture of your man and the dogs, by the way.

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