Sugar and Spice, and everything nice

Sitting here in the ambience of the twinkling lights of the ornament adorned, not so alive, pine Christmas tree gives me a sense of calm and peace. I know this feeling of calm and peace will slip away into the light that is dawned into our lives for the short hours of the day. After all we are getting closer to Winter Solstice, aka ‘the shortest day of the year,” meaning the day with the shortest amount of light from the sun. Tomorrow, December 21, is a birth into the Winter season and is also when Persephone returns to the underworld and to her love Hades.

If you can’t remember what I am talking about, trying looking back at October 5, 2022 edition, in my column. I speak of the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades and what transpires between the two worlds, living and underworld; as well as, the quest of how her mother, Demeter, went searching the lands and had fallen in mourning giving us the cold and barren winter months. Then, only to have Persephone return in Spring and Demeter returning the light and warmth to the living world in rejoice.

I think we all mourn Persephone’s departure from the living world around this time of year a bit. I know I do. The cold temperatures, to the point of were the air hurts my face when I step outside. I can only blame myself for choosing to stay. We make due, by making warm fires and good food, cookies and cuddled in with cozy blankets. At least that is how I handle the winter days. When I was younger I loved to go out hiking a bit, carrying my snowboard, searching for a big enough gouge out of the sand quarry that resided in the “Back 40” of the land my family owned. I knew it wasn’t exactly safe to be snowboarding down these rock infested sand pits and/or drop-offs, but I wasn’t one to go out on the slopes. Reason being that I just couldn’t afford it and lived a few hours away from the closest ski resort. Traipsing around in the woods in winter has a different type of feeling. Complete stillness. If you don’t move, you can hear for what seems like miles and miles (that could just be me with my Vulcan-like hearing). However, those are long distant memories. For now I like to reside indoors. Under warm blankets, by a fire, with hot cocoa or eggnog (non-spiked please), soft music (Nat King Cole or Dean Martin, or something of the like), and the beautiful glow of the Christmas tree lights refracting off of the memory filled ornaments from Christmases past.

For those who like the cold winter months now, that is fantastic. I hope you find all the fish in the frozen lakes for your bellies and smell the fresh crisp air of the mountains before cutting a new path with your skis or snowboard. For all the outside dwellers, I wish you all the happiness and stillness, if that is what you seek.

When you come back in from the cold, I hope there are warm cookies waiting for you. Maybe a cup of hot cocoa for yourself, or a cup of spiked eggnog to warm you up a bit faster.

I hope wherever you find yourself this Christmas, or the holiday that you celebrate, that you can feel the love and warmth in your heart. I know myself that it is very difficult to not be with all of your loved ones on Christmas, or holidays, but they are forever in your heart. And the friends and loved ones you can spend it with, enjoy and be merry. For this time will one day become a memory of your life, so make sure you do what you love and love what you do.

Merry Christmas and happy Holidays! See you in the new year!

Seeking

W

onder