And Another Year Bites the Dust!

 

I just wanted to take a few minutes and stop in here to wish all of my Peeps a Happy & Healthy New Year. I hope that 2010 is full of Magic and brings you all the most Wonderful Things and is everything you Hope and Dream it will be!

This is a special New Year’s Eve because not only is it the last day of the Year, but it is also a Blue Moon. Blue Moon’s are rare, and to have one on New Year’s Eve is incredibly Rare! In addition to the Blue Moon, there will also be a partial lunar eclipse. I’m hoping that these are good omens and means that the coming year will be incredible. After all, good things happen “Once in a Blue Moon”!

I am spending a quiet New Year’s Eve at home with the Hubs and the furbabies. This has become tradition for us over the last few years. The desire to get out there and brave all the people celebrating is long past. I am much happier curled up in my PJ’s, eating an assortment of bad for us snacks, and watching TV. At Midnight we will flip the channel over and watch the ball drop in Times Square…. or at least I will, G often doesn’t make it all the way to Midnight anymore. A far cry from when we first met. Our very first New Year’s Eve (The big 2000! We weren’t together, just at the same place/party) was spent in a train yard, setting of fireworks, dancing on the tops of trains (umm… no, that –wasn’t- allowed and there are no pictures, so you have no proof!), drinking and generally carousing till the wee small hours. We would soon be a couple… Now, ten years later, we are boring. LOL!

Celebrations of Light and Hope

It has become tradition that on Dec 21 I repost this entry from my first year of blogging. It originally appeared on my AOL Journal in 2004. This is the sixth year that I have 'reprinted' it. It still says what I want to remember about this time of year, so I am repeating it again this year. Some of the circumstances have changed... G and I are now married, we lost our beloved D.K., but have opened our hearts to a new kitty this year who is making her ‘big sister’ Morgan’s life interesting, we’ve changed jobs and homes a time or two…. still, although it will be 3 days before Christmas this year due to work and other obligations, we will be making our annual trek to spend a day with my brother and his family. Things change and yet some things remain the same. I hope you enjoy my annual Celebration of Light and Hope.


Today is the shortest day of the year... and the longest night. It is the first day of Winter. It is the celebration of Yule. It is an acknowledgement of Hope. That Light and Warmth and other good things will always return after the darkness. It is the day that G. and I celebrate as our personal Winter Holiday. In ancient times, this was the festival of the rebirth of the new god and a promise that after today the days would get longer, the nights would get shorter, and warmth and Spring WOULD come.

Yes, secularly we, like so many others, celebrate Christmas. In the United States, Christmas is no longer just a religious holiday. With the gift giving, and Santa, and the decorations... Christmas has become more, and less, than what was originally intended. Everyone takes the pieces and parts of the holiday that works for them. Some embrace the religious parts, and try to ignore how secular it has become... others embrace the secular with it's parties, lights, Santa, and presents and ignore any religious beginnings of the holiday. But, at it's heart, it is still a Winter Holiday.. A celebration of Hope. And every religion/belief system seems to have a celebration of some type that embraces this.

I grew up in the States, and therefore my memories of a Winter Holiday include all of the above. And Christmas itself is as much a melting pot as the United States itself. The Christmas tree is German, and Santa is the culmination of a blend of traditions from many countries. Mistletoe? Druid. Christmas Cards? England. You see what I mean. G. and I will be celebrating with my brother and his family on Christmas Eve at his house. That's the day we all have off together. Christmas Day G. is working so a co-worker can be home with his small children for the all important Santa Claus ritual <g>.

I think what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter who you are, or what your core beliefs are... There is a place in the Winter Holidays for all. But, please, take a moment this season, whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Yule, or Christmas, to remember that the REAL reason for all of these celebrations is to celebrate HOPE in all of its forms.


graphics by useless graphics

Tags: Christmas, Celebrations of Light &Hope, Yule