Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Happy Solstice!

When I was in elementary school at Germantown Friends, the teachers would sit us down before a holiday meeting and remind us that "Happy Thanksgiving was not an appropriate message for meeting for worship. I'm not sure what I think about that, but I seem to be ignoring it (not that blogging is meeting for worship.)

It's solstice, the day with the most light in all the year in the northern hemisphere. As I mentioned recently, I'm not much of a pagan in any mainstream (?) sense, but I am finding that the holidays mean something to me, and noticing them matters.

I live in Minnesota, where this thing is pretty noticeable. I have trouble with depression in winter, when I can go days without seeing the sun if I'm not careful. I spent a semester of college in norway, where there were maybe 3 hours of sunlight a day by the time I left in December. I slept a LOT.

We really need sunlight, for everything, life is pretty much entirely based on it. When it's in scarce supply it's sort of like when you're a little kid and you can't find your parents in the grocery store, but way, way, scarier (or can be)

Today is, in a way, our day to be most alive. Revel in abundance. In six months we will be celebrating that dark times get light again, but now we can just celebrate light, I'm just planning a picnic for tonight, when it will be light until after 9pm. It's a good thing.

5 comments:

liberata said...

Hi Earthfreak,

You inspired my blog entry for today! Thanks!

Little Black Car said...

Where were you in Norway? I spent a summer in Stavanger when I was 15 (my father was working there) and we had the opposite problem--I didn't sleep for three months because the sun never went down!

Plain Foolish said...

Happy solstice to you, too.

Little Black Car said...

Oh, yes--and happy solstice to you, too.

I can't believe it's only just now summer (officially). Texas has four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, A Little More Summer, and Christmas (which is discernible by the yard art if not by the weather).

ef said...

Hannah, I love it - by the yard art. I just biked by a house that was all done up like christmas coming home from swimming last week. I dont' think it was actually xmas ornaments, just a lot of gaudy stuff in their yard. BUt it was late and bugs were eating me, so I didn't investigate. Someone on my street decorates for every holiday they can think of, so their yard is always decorated, it's fun! (I think)


I was in Norway in 1989, in Oslo. I loved a lot of things about it, but the dark was overwhelming! Did you see the northern exposure episode about the long summer days? we were just talking about it recently. Right now here it's light out from 5:30am or so until 9 pm or so. just the right amount of time to sleep, really.....