Solstice, 2012

My family enjoyed a lovely Solstice together last night! This is a very special celebration for me, for several reasons. First of all, I love celebrating the changing of the seasons... it makes me feel connected to our Earth and it's cycles. Second, from the moment we change the clocks in October, I look forward to the Solstice, when finally the days begin to get longer again, minute by minute, each day. I also love taking the time to think about how our ancestors have celebrated the Return of the Light for thousands of years. This dark time of year is a time of reflection, appreciation and togetherness. Here is how we celebrated last night:

We started by placing some ice lanterns we made onto the front porch at dusk...

Our front door, with our Solstice Ice Lanterns

Our Ice Lanterns

For some of our lanterns, we froze some evergreen into the ice. 

Then, we came inside and had a nice Solstice Feast! We were joined by my parents who are visiting from Florida for the holidays. We had candles lit in all the windows, and on the table.

Our table, set for our Solstice Feast

We planned to have a fire out in our fire pit after dinner, but torrential rains all day soaked our firewood, so we just stayed inside, and enjoyed some hot chocolate and spice cupcakes. It was a lovely evening spent together with Family! We are now looking forward to celebrating the rest of the winter holidays... Christmas Eve, Christmas and the New Year. The next several days will be spent cooking, baking, finishing up last minute gifts and enjoying the company of those we love.

Blessed Holidays to you and yours!