Good Solstice To All

Good Solstice to you! In slightly more than one hour from now, the Solstice will have occurred and the sun will have started it's six month journey to the summer zenith. My celebration will occur while waiting in the parking lot for the gym to open up followed by swimming, errands galore and shopping for food, stocking stuffers, and miscellaneous stuff. It's also my "day off" which means laundry and some necessary computer work. No rest for me on this most important day. however, my thoughts will be turning to Solstice throughout the day and I pray for a year of peace and love ahead of all of us, My prayers might not come true, but they will be be one voice among many others wishing for the same thing.

The sun will be returning today, at 4:44 am in my part of the world.
Now the days will start getting longer again, although winter
is fully enthroned until the Spring Equinox. 

Our ancestors celebrated Solstice by relighting the fires of the hearth just as the sun would be returning to the heavens. I guess in a way I'll be doing that too - purchasing foods that we traditionally only have for the holiday season - pie and ham.

I love my Candy Cane pie. It's a once-a-year treat that
I treasure. The peppermint filling with that small layer of
chocolate silk at the bottom and the crushed Oreo crust is
pie perfection. 

I have a reservation for a Candy Cane Pie from Baker's Square. I indulge in this once a year and only once a year - too many calories. But SO good.

I love Honeybaked ham, it's so very good. We'll have a smaller one
demolished by Sunday when we're planning on having a standing
rib roast for Christmas Day dinner. Then, we'll get Monday off too and
we'll be celebration DH's birthday. 

I'll also be picking up a smaller Honeybaked Ham this morning - our other holiday indulgence. Although we often get a large ham, I'll be getting a smaller ham this year because so much salt can't possibly be healthy for us. It's very good, though, and again, we only indulge once a year.

I got a really lovely holiday card from my friend Poo in California in yesterday's mail. She usually makes her cards and this was no exception. Really beautiful! Thank you SO much!

It was a cold night to wait for the sun at Stonehenge yesterday. Here's
a photo of those who are braving the cold to celebrate the return
of the sun this morning. 

So I'm off to the gym. I wish all of you a Blessed Solstice and a year ahead of you without fear, anger and hatred. I'm going to try really hard to keep my thoughts positive all day while dealing with stressed out holiday shoppers and crazy traffic. Ugh! Happy Wednesday.