Today is an important day in the world calendar for so many people, it is the Winter Solstice, the beginning of the winter, the shortest day of the year, the day with the most darkness, the beginning of lighter days. It is a curious holiday, it marks the beginning of winter, but the end of the darkest days. It has always been important to farmers, pagans, witches, shamans, it is perhaps the most mystical and spiritual holiday, it has always been a time of home and beginning.

Tomorrow the days will begin to grow longer again, good news for farmers, people who love light, photographers. Maria and I both suffer in the dark and cold days, we are light people, we need color and light around us. Last year, we were invited to a Winter Solstice gather of shamans by our friend Carole Tunney, who died a couple of months ago. Maria is more of a pagan than I am, this is a major holiday for her, she was planning some special celebration before food poisoning intervened. She is getting stronger, I am filling her with ginger ale and electrolytes. We will do something to mark the solstice, perhaps bring some candles out into the pasture and mark the day with the donkeys, the most spiritual of animals, they will grasp the meaning the day, they feel the darkness and the light acutely.

I love this day, it is free of the greed and hype that have come to typify American holidays, it is pure and symbolic holiday of the planet, it always told farmers to beginning thinking of Spring and the new plantings. I am going to mark it the same way, to plan my year, to set my goals for being a better human, for creating. I suspect some witches, shamans and angels will be out in the pasture tonight, perhaps one will dance with me or sing with us. My idea is for Maria and I to be dancing in the moonlight with donkeys and sheep.