December first...(and quite a beautifully foggy start to the first day of the last month of the year!)
really?!?
If you are like me, it is like maybe March, or even June...
but DECEMBER?!
No WAY!
Where did the last 9 months or so GO?!
Seems like I was just marvelling at the long-awaited (and very late!) start of summertime!
(btw-I pretty much do this every month that passes me by in a matter of a few days time it seems!)
So...we are coming upon MY favorite time of year...no, not necessarily because of the holidays-actually, sort of in spite of all the frantic greedy stress filled over consumption staring us all down.
ugh.
All of THAT is among my LEAST favorite experiences ever.
So I (we) have found a quite simple solution to avoid it all.
We just don't play the game of gluttony in the name of the historically inaccurate holiday which has been turned into a ridiculous excuse for the disgusting pressure/expectation to BUY BUY BUY and GET GET GET and DO DO DO and BE BE BE!
This year, we're simply celebrating the quiet reflective hopeful renewal cycle of nature which the Winter Solstice brings us.
We'll have a small sweet tree, cut with thankfulness from our wooded property,
decorated in little balls of shining ice blue & silver.
A Yule Log we create from one of the many felled tree trunks on our property.
Handmade and second-hand pretties to decorate the mantel & hearth.
We will not be participating in the exchanging of over priced, under used, UNneeded gifts...
our love, and this life we share, every day, are the greatsest gifts we could ever receive. (plus our upcoming trip to Maui will be an awesome gift to one another as well!)
For we have all we could ever need and far more.
For our (adult) kids-just a bit of assistance for what they may need/want.
Gift cards in a relatively sufficient amount to help them out with little neccesities...or luxuries...
it is a gift after all, given in love, to do with what they please...
along with a small handmade token to remind them how special they are to us.
We did "splurge" on a tickets to a few special seasonal events:
The "Cool Yule" concert starring the Seattle Men's Choir.
The "Magical Strings-A Celtic Yuletide" musical performance
The "Portland Cello Project" eclectic holiday concert (complete with an ugly sweater contest!)
(and we just noticed, all three events are on sucessive evenings...!)
We'll probably also spend an hour or so browsing the decadent delights of decorations and home decor at Wight's Nursery.
And take the bus into downtown Seattle to stroll among the cheery throngs gazing at the big store window displays, and enjoying the festivities at Westlake Center.
(two of our holiday "traditions")
But mostly, our celebration of the season will be filled with snuggled up evenings at home sweet home together, watching our favorite holiday movies, sharing yummy food & wine, listening to music, playing games, creating art, doing puzzles, reading, playing with our dogs, and generally just adoring & celebrating one another and the miracle of our life, during the long dark cold winter.
I'll be sharing some of the ways we are celebrating the Winter Solstice through words and photographs during this month of posts...
Whatever your plans for the season are, I hope you will be able to find a way to celebrate in the way your heart truly calls for you to do and which speaks to the very essence of what this time of year really and truly means to you.
Having the ability to celebrate just exactly as we wish to during this usually overwhelming (and often overly stressful in all ways: physically, mentally, emotionally & spiritually..
ie: disappointing) of holiday times,
enables me to remain...
Happy Me-Laurie Z!
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