Happy Yule, Happy Winter Solstice!

Mountains make pretty magical snowflakes.

Today is the Winter Solstice. It’s the longest night of the year, the shortest day, and I looove it. Last night we picked Grandma up from the airport and were treated to the soft shimmering of green Aurora Borealis. They really do dance across the sky. Gosh, it's such a treat to see them! The pretty display didn’t last long, but it brought such a sense of magic and wonder to this already wonderful time of year. It was quite a stellar welcome for both grandma and the Solstice.

Some holidays are boisterous, full of revelry and merry-making. For me that will start in a few days when we celebrate Christmas. Yay! Spending holidays with family and friends totally fills my bucket. I’ll be honest, the Holidays used to bring me so much stress and unresolved emotions, but now I allow myself to soak up all the joy and happiness of the season and just have fun. Stress and baggage can wait for another day, because now is the time to be merry. 

And for me, today is the quiet reflection of Yule before the upcoming boisterous, happy storm. When I celebrate the birth of the sun, the wheel turning again, the tipping point where the days start to get longer again, I like to keep it soft and quiet and just silently beam all day. It is a very good day.

It really is a wonderful time of the year. However you celebrate, have a wonderful Holiday Season full of Peace, Joy, Love and Fun! Happy Holidays!

Happy Winter Solstice

Celebrating the Seasons

I love celebrating the seasons, including the turn of the seasons. Although we had a doozy of a snow dump in September, the rest of fall was actually pretty fall-ish. Calgary's seasons have their own rhythm and the calendar date seems to have limited influence. That can be said about a lot of places. Getting to know the nuances of the seasons of a particular place is one of the great relationships we have access to.

Yup, I called it a relationship. That's what it feels like. Knowing a place well, knowing it's moods, knowing you are a better person for having experienced it and swearing the feeling is mutual . . .  To the average conversation, sharing that a landscape noticed you might sound odd, but, well, welcome to my world. Sometimes you just feel a place. 

In celebration of Winter Solstice, or Yule as many call it, I've included some pics of a few of my happy wintery places. 

How do you celebrate Winter Solstice?

Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Niagara Escarpment, Ontario, Canada