The new solar year

 This is now the winter time,
My merry gentlemen
Yule logs are burning in your hall,
Fair forms are circling in the ball,
And cups are filled with purple wine
To aid the pudding and the chine.

This is now the winter time;
Remember, gentles, then,
That none shall starve while you dine;
That none shall thirst who grow the vine.
Yet give no alms in mean award,
But spread the just, the well-earned board.
This is now the winter time,
My noble gentlemen.

Goodwyn Barmby

(1820-1881)

Just when it feels like the days can't get any shorter - it's true. Today is the shortest day of the year. The Winter Solstice has always been a pagan festival of rebirth, celebrated for thousands of years. Every year hundreds of interesting people still gather at Stonehenge to watch the sunrise.

It must be quite a scene. But you don't have to be a druid or belong to a coven to want to celebrate the longest night of the year.  The Winter Solstice means the return of the sun, and each day it will give us more light. The sun is at it's southernmost point and begins the long, six-month journey north. Winter may be just beginning, but it also feels like the hope of Spring.

Our Seattle snow is a distant memory this morning. Godspeed Amanda, as you make your way over the mountains today with the little girls.