Farewell Christmas Tree

 

There's something a little sad about taking down the Christmas tree. All that extra glitz and flash of the holiday lights and decorations disappears when the tree goes out the door, leaving a thick trail of brown needles on the floor behind us. We took down Lin's tree today. We de-decorated.

All the ornaments were carefully wrapped and packed away till next year. All the lights came off and we tried our best to keep them in some order, so the untangling episode of this year would be minimized at Christmas 2014.

It was an ordeal trying to lift the 6-foot tree out of the tree stand without spilling the water and then dragging the bare tree on a tarp out of the house, down the deck stairs and out to the woods.

No matter how hard we scour each branch of the tree, there is always one ornament hiding. We assume it doesn't want to be packed away. This year it was the pickle.

Lin has a tradition, however, of cutting up the tree and burning it in the chiminea. It symbolizes saying goodbye to 2013 (good riddance, we say) and beginning to prepare for the new year ahead. Since 2013 was not a particularly good year for us, I was pleased to be participating in her ritual. So on a cold, gray day, we cut up the tree and sipped hot cider and rum while watching the remnants of 2013 blaze up and swirl away in smoky, sparking clouds.

As we say goodbye to the Christmas tree and 2013, a little reminder that First Foot Day is celebrated on New Year's Day in several countries including Greece and Scotland. The first person to set foot in your home (or on your boat maybe?) after the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day is thought to bring good luck. It's not usually a resident family member and the person cannot be in the house at the stroke of midnight. The visitor usually brings some traditional gifts like bread, a coin and perhaps some whiskey or wine signifying that you'll have enough to eat, drink and spend for the upcoming year.

Start the First Foot tradition by spreading the word in advance and then visiting friends and neighbors with the traditional gifts to insure their good luck in 2014.

And lest we forget ... on the Sixth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Six shiny shackles

Five I miss you's

Four galley updates

Three e-mailed errands

Two bigger duffels

And a Christmas morning greeting on Skype

Winter Solstice

 

It's been a year since the great Mayan apocalypse of 2012 and I'm still here to write about it, so I guess we can breathe easy and celebrate yet another solar event. Winter Solstice is the shortest day or the longest night of the year ... in the northern hemisphere anyway. While David is enjoying long days and hot weather in Adelaide, back here in Boston it gets dark at 4pm and it's mighty cold and bleak.

Though the winter/summer solstice was actually on 21 December, Lin's earth-centered group and pagan friends celebrated a bit later, so everyone could get together. They welcomed me warmly as usual as they ritually ushered out the darkness and short days of winter and welcomed the lengthening days to come. Though it's not quite noticeable yet, the sunset is a minute or two later each week. On the 21st, we had 9 hours 4 minutes and 40 seconds of light in Boston and today we're already up to 9 hours 6 minutes and 17 seconds of daylight. We're really making progress.

People have been celebrating the sun's annual journey for millennia ... solstices, equinoxes and all the smaller milestones in between. The pagan Wheel of the Year is especially good at acknowledging and celebrating the sun's odyssey from the rebirth of Spring to the dead of Winter. Each has its own time and reason.

Unlike the solstice group, however, I do not intend to wait around until springtime and summer in Boston to enjoy longer days. I hop on a plane to Australia in just seven days where the warm, long summer days (and David) are waiting for me.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, my true love sent to me …

Four galley updates

Three e-mailed errands

Two bigger duffels

And a Christmas morning greeting on Skype

Merry Christmas to All

 

Merry Christmas! What more can I say on my favorite holiday of the year? David and I are not together geographically (sigh!), but we're together in spirit. I'm spending Christmas morning with my sister and her family … and Jelly, of course. We're drinking mimosas and eating decadently large, gooey cinnamon buns and opening our stockings. We'll head over to spend Christmas afternoon and evening with our mom, Bea.

David is … shall I really tell you? … working on the boat. What a surprise! We'll celebrate our Christmas together when I return to Nine of Cups … 12 days and counting.

The Nine of Cups Twelve Days of Christmas countdown:

On the first Day of Christmas my true love sent to me … Christmas morning greetings on Skype.

We wish you everyone ... health, wealth and love in 2014 and the time to enjoy them all.