winter solstice | Bertram's Blog

Balmy Weather

December 21, 2022 — Pat Bertram

I walked to the library today in the balmy temperature of nineteen degrees. The “balmy” isn’t totally ironic because it will feel balmy in comparison to tomorrow’s expected temperature. I had to check the forecast twice because . . . 2 degrees? Really? With a wind chill of way below zero? And that’s the high! The low will be minus twelve with a wind chill I don’t even want to consider.

I can’t even remember the last time the high temperature was that low. Maybe when I was a kid?

Not that it matters — it’s what I have to deal with now that counts, not what I had to deal with decades ago.

Although the thought of the low temperature makes me a bit uneasy, dealing with the arctic blast shouldn’t be all that difficult. I have a handful of books to read, food to eat, and nowhere I need to go. I will have to go to work on Friday, but by then things will have warmed up a few degrees, enough that I won’t get frostbite walking a couple of blocks.

Luckily, I’m already in the habit of leaving a faucet dripping on frigidly cold nights. And there certainly have been a lot of them! We’ve been stuck in a deep freeze for a while. In fact, strangely for these parts where the sun shines so hotly even in winter, the snow that dumped on us more than a week ago still hasn’t melted.

But seasons come and go, so things will eventually change. In fact, today is the beginning of a new season — winter — which is rather an anti-climax since we’ve been having winter weather for so long now. Still, this is the end of the creeping darkness. The days will be getting longer. And spring is only three months away.

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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One. “Grief: The Inside Story is perfect and that is not hyperbole! It is exactly what folk who are grieving need to read.” –Leesa Healy, RN, GDAS GDAT, Emotional/Mental Health Therapist & Educator.

Posted in life. Tags: arctic blast, dealing with the cold, lowest high temperatures, snow not melting, spring is three months away, staying in when it's cold, winter solstice. Leave a Comment »

Staying Warm

December 16, 2022 — Pat Bertram

The snow we got at the beginning of the week hasn’t melted, which is rare for Colorado. Even in the middle of winter, the snow usually melts quickly, but we are stuck in the middle of a deep freeze — lows close to zero, highs barely above freezing and then for only an hour or two.

Not that it’s a problem — I don’t really have to go anywhere, and if I do, I can walk. Walk very carefully, that is, considering all the ice.

I do feel bad about not knowing the snow would come. (Though how could I have known when even the weather forecasters didn’t know?) This would have been the perfect time to plant my wildflower seeds, with plenty of snow and cold to give them a good start, but there should be other opportunities. After all, winter isn’t even here yet, and from what my neighbors tell me, February is generally the coldest and snowiest month. The very thought makes me shiver. Colder than this? Yikes.

At least I don’t have to worry about watering my lawn! From what I remember of last year, I was watering almost until Christmas when we got our first major snow.

Speaking of Christmas — is it really only nine days away? It doesn’t seem possible — it feels as if this year started only a couple of months ago.

Before Christmas, though — only five days away — is the winter solstice. The end of the creeping darkness. Admittedly, with electric lights, and with my eyes focused so often on a book or the computer screen, I don’t notice the darkness as much as I did when I was younger and having to go to work every day.

And after Christmas — a mere seven days later — a new year begins.

I wonder what’s in store for me. Something good, I hope, though what that good thing would be, I don’t know. If I knew what I hoped for, I’d go after it myself and not wait for the new year to bring it.

Meantime, I’m doing what I can to keep warm. I hope you are too.

***

Posted in gardening, life. Tags: Christmas is coming, cold spell, hoping something good will happen, new year, snow, stuck in a deep freeze, winter solstice. 7 Comments »

Dredging Up a Bit of Festivity

November 29, 2022 — Pat Bertram

It snowed this morning and I also received my first Christmas card of the season. You’d think that would be enough to put me in the Christmas spirit (whatever that might be), or at least make me feel like digging out my Christmas decorations, but nope. The snow melted and the sun came out and anyway, I’m not one who gets all sentimental about a white Christmas. Admittedly, snow is pretty, especially when lights are reflected in the crystals, but it makes a mess of travel, unless, of course, one is traveling in a one-horse sleigh or behind a team of Clydesdales or eight or nine reindeer. But for traveling in a car? Snow and ice are not exactly conducive to safe travels.

Come to think of it, I don’t have to drive anywhere, so perhaps a white Christmas would be nice after all.

I did think about decorating again this year as I have every Christmas since I’ve moved here, but it seems a lot of work for just myself. In previous years, I have enjoyed seeing the house lit up with my bowls of light and my tree filled with ornaments that tell the story of my life, and perhaps as the solstice comes closer, I’ll be more willing to celebrate the end of the creeping darkness if nothing else.

Or not. The problem with decorating is that one eventually has to undecorate, and that takes even more energy than decorating does. At least, with decorating, you can have the fun of seeing things that have been packed away for a year.

On the other hand, what else do I have to do? There’s no gardening work to do, though I still water the lawn occasionally when the temperatures get into the mid-fifties and there’s been no moisture, and next month I’ll have to plant my wildflower seeds, but until then, I have all those hours I used to spend gardening to fill with other things so I don’t go through gardening withdrawal.

Luckily, it’s not even December yet, so I have plenty of time to dredge up a bit of festivity. And if I don’t? Well then, I don’t.

***

Posted in life. Tags: end of the creeping darkness, first Christmas card of the year, gardening withdrawal, what's the big deal about a white Christmas, white Christmas, winter solstice. 4 Comments »

Happy End of the Creeping Darkness!

December 21, 2021 — Pat Bertram

The creeping darkness ended this morning at 8:58 MT. “Creeping darkness” is a phrase I created, so unless you read this blog, it’s a term you probably haven’t heard of before. The correct term, of course, is “winter solstice.”

For the past six months, ever since the summer solstice, darkness has been creeping into our days and stealing our light. Today we have reached the end. Tomorrow the light begins to grow, but only in the northern hemisphere. Down under, they begin a time of creeping darkness.

“Solstice” comes from two Latin words, sol meaning “sun” and sistere meaning “stationary” because on this day, in the northern hemisphere, the sun seems to stand still, as if garnering it’s strength to fight back the darkness.

Technically, the winter solstice marks the moment when there is a 23.5-degree tilt in Earth’s axis and the North Pole is at its furthest point from the sun — from here on, the days will get longer, gaining us an additional 6 and 1/2 hours of sunlight per day by June 21st when the days begin to get shorter again. (This is reversed in the southern hemisphere, so today those down under will be celebrating their summer solstice.)

Though neo-pagans have claimed the solstice for their own, this is one of those natural holidays (holy days) that we all should be celebrating. The end of the lengthening nights. The triumph of light over darkness. We don’t even need the metaphors of light=good and dark=bad to find reason to celebrate this day. It’s simply a day of stillness, of hope. A day to give thanks for the promise that even in our darkest hour, light will return.

My celebration will be simple. I turned on my bowls of light and toasted the sun when the morning clouds drifted away and showed me Sol’s shining face.

Whatever hemisphere you live in, I wish you a day filled with light and lightness of being.

***

What if God decided S/He didn’t like how the world turned out, and turned it over to a development company from the planet Xerxes for re-creation? Would you survive? Could you survive?

A fun book for not-so-fun times.

Click here to buy Bob, The Right Hand of God.

Posted in culture, life. Tags: creeping darkness, holy day, natural holiday, neo-pagans, return of the light, solstice, triumph of light over darkness, winter solstice. 4 Comments »

The Days to Come

December 11, 2021 — Pat Bertram

It snowed a bit yesterday, our first snow of the season, though it wasn’t much of a snowfall. Big flakes floated down for about five minutes, dusted the ground like powdered sugar, then disappeared. When I saw at the last minute that snow was forecast (before that, they said it would pass us by), I considered planting my wildflower seeds, but I knew there wouldn’t be much snow because the daytime temperature was in the high thirties. Since it’s going to warm up in the next couple of days, I didn’t want the seeds to think that winter had come and gone and now it was spring and time to sprout. I still have time to plant, either right before or right after Christmas, to give the seeds a good start. After all, it’s still fall. Winter won’t come for ten more days.

I am preparing for the solstice. I set up my bowls of light, ready to celebrate the end of the creeping darkness. I even set up my little Christmas tree. I didn’t really feel like doing the work, but I thought it important to make some attempt at a festive atmosphere even if it is just for me. And anyway, I do enjoy seeing the ornaments I’ve collected over the years.

It is amusing, though — I’d just cleaned up the last speck of glitter from last year, and now I am glitterizing my house again. (Yes, Spellcheck, I do know glitterizing isn’t a word, but no matter how much you redline me, I’m leaving it.)

In three weeks, we start a new year. If you thought 1984 an inauspicious year because of the book by that name, 2022 should really creep you out. That’s the year the story in the film Soylent Green took place. Yikes.

Just one more thing to think about in the days to come.

***

What if God decided S/He didn’t like how the world turned out, and turned it over to a development company from the planet Xerxes for re-creation? Would you survive? Could you survive?

A fun book for not-so-fun times.

Click here to buy Bob, The Right Hand of God.

Posted in life. Tags: creating a character, decorating for Christmas, end of the creeping darkness, first snow of the season, spending Christmas alone, winter solstice. 7 Comments »

Happy End of the Creeping Darkness!

December 21, 2020 — Pat Bertram

The creeping darkness ended this morning at 3:02 am MT. “Creeping darkness” is a phrase I created, which is probably why you haven’t heard of it before (unless, of course, you are a reader of this blog). I have a hard time with this time of year and the way the darkness comes earlier and earlier, stealing light from my days, and so “end of the creeping darkness” seems a perfect name for this particular event. The correct term, of course, is “winter solstice.”

My celebration was simple. I turned on my bowls of light and went outside to toast the winter sun with a splash of Bailey’s Irish Cream in my coffee. The sun shone brilliantly in the pale blue sky, and spoke of hope and good will to all of us.

Wishing you a bright and hopeful end of the creeping darkness.

***

Pat Bertram is the author of the suspense novels Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook.

Posted in culture, life. Tags: creeping darkness, holy day, natural holiday, neo-pagans, return of the light, solstice, triumph of light over darkness, winter solstice. 4 Comments »

Happy End of the Creeping Darkness!

December 21, 2019 — Pat Bertram

The creeping darkness will end this evening at 9:19 pm MT. “Creeping darkness” is a phrase I created, which is probably why you haven’t heard of it before. I have a hard time with this time of year and the way the darkness comes earlier and earlier, stealing light from my days, and so “end of the creeping darkness” seems a perfect name for this particular event. The correct term, of course, is “winter solstice.”

My celebration will be simple. I’ll turn on my bowls of light and go outside to toast the pale winter sun with sparking cider. Technically, I will be toasting the moon since the sun will have set hours before, but the sun won’t care. It will be shining brightly in the southern hemisphere, and will return to this part of globe tomorrow with greater strength.

Wishing you a bright and hopeful end of the creeping darkness.

***

Posted in culture, life. Tags: creeping darkness, holy day, natural holiday, neo-pagans, return of the light, solstice, triumph of light over darkness, winter solstice. 6 Comments »

The Stockings Were Hung by the Heating Unit with Care

December 2, 2019 — Pat Bertram

A word of advice — if you don’t like the sun setting before 4:30 in the wintertime, be sure to move to the western end of a time zone. The sun sets at the western end of a time zone almost an hour later than the eastern end.

And I live close to the eastern edge of the mountain time zone.

Even worse, there are still three weeks until the end of the creeping darkness.

Usually I wait to put out my bowls of light until close to the winter solstice to celebrate the returning light, but this year, I need them early. Not only does the sun set at 4:30, the long twilights I remember from my previous years in Colorado seem to be missing (maybe because I am further south than where I used to live). So, full dark comes at 5:00. Yikes.

Yesterday I put out the bowls of light.

Today, I put up my Christmas trees. The red tree was a gift to cheer me up three years ago when I couldn’t go anywhere because of my destroyed arm, the green tree was my father’s. I hadn’t intended to bring it with me, but someone thought I needed it, because when my brother helped me move my stuff into a storage unit after my father’s death, there is was.

And now here it is.

One odd aspect of growing older is that everything has a story. Those trees, of course. The stocking that was hung above the heating unit with care was a gift from my sister about fifteen years ago that has been packed away. The bowls the lights are in used to be my mother’s. The table used to belong to an aunt, got handed down to my brother, and now it, too, is here. The red wreath started out as a hatband and will again become a hatband in another week or so.

Every ornament has a story, too. Quite frankly, I had no idea I had so many ornaments — I haven’t had a tree for decades. I put up my father’s tree for him but decorated it with the cute felt nativity set I’d made for my mother when I was young. (It seems to have disappeared. I know she gave it back to me before she died, which is why I had it to use for my father’s tree, but I must have gotten rid of it during one of my storage unit cleansings.) I did recently buy some ornaments from an artist friend — the arabesque (onion shaped) ones — but mostly what I have are things I was gifted. A couple of things I found in with my ornaments, I don’t remember ever seeing before.

It might sound as if I get too attached to things, but if you knew how much stuff that I liked that I’ve gotten rid of over the years, you’d see that some things attach themselves to me, and those are the things I still have.

In this case, it’s good I have the stuff. I mean, first Winter Solstice/Light Festival/Christmas in my new house? Of course, I’ll decorate!!

Besides, it makes the long dark nights on the eastern edge of the time zone a bit brighter.

***

Posted in culture, home, life. Tags: bowls of light, creeping darkness, decorating for Christmas, eastern edge of the time zone, every ornament has a story, hanging the stockings, winter solstice. 4 Comments »

Wishing You A Day Filled With Light And Lightness Of Being

December 21, 2018 — Pat Bertram

The internet, especially the social networks, has made me aware of the entire world, not just my local hemisphere. (That’s a phrase you don’t hear everyday — “my local hemisphere”. ) I used to think today, the winter solstice, was a natural day of celebration since it signifies the end of the creeping darkness. For the past six months, ever since the summer solstice, darkness has been creeping into our days and stealing our light. Today we have reached the end. Tomorrow the light begins to grow, but only in the northern hemisphere. Down under, they begin a time of creeping darkness.

Still, since I live in the northern hemisphere, this is a day to celebrate the growing of the light.

Wishing you a day filled with light and lightness of being.

***

Pat Bertram is the author of the suspense novels Unfinished, Madame ZeeZee’s Nightmare, Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook.

Posted in culture, internet, life. Tags: end of the darkness, growing light, northern hemisphere, southern hemisphere, winter solstice. 6 Comments »

The End of the Creeping Darkness!

December 21, 2017 — Pat Bertram

At 8:28 this morning, Pacific time, winter came. Twice. The calendar winter, of course, but also the weather winter. Soooo cold! 8:28 am PT also marked this year’s winter solstice, ending the creeping darkness. “Solstice” comes from two Latin words, sol meaning “sun” and sistere meaning “stationary” because on this day, in the northern hemisphere, the sun seems to stand still, as if garnering it’s strength to fight back the darkness.

Though neo-pagans have claimed the solstice for their own, this is one of those natural holidays (holy days) that we all should be celebrating. The triumph of light over darkness. A day of stillness, of hope, of giving thanks for the promise that even in our darkest hour, light will return.

My celebration was simple. I lit a vase of lights and went outside and toasted the pale winter sun with champagne. Well, it was really sparking apple/peach cider, but the sun didn’t seem to care. It slid beneath the desert knolls without even a wink or a nod to acknowledge my obeisance. But it will return with greater strength tomorrow. And so will I.

Wishing you a bright and hopeful end of the creeping darkness.

***