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Ahhhhhh, who cares about the solstice. How about that lunar eclipse? ;)

 

Not to hijack the thread, but I will tell you my solstice surprise story. A few weeks ago I had shoulder surgery. As a result, I've been sleeping in the recliner. The door to the patio is just a few feet from the recliner. My wife is up and down all night, so I'm used to hearing her come into the kitchen for a drink. About 1:30 AM, I'm sleeping in my chair with the cat in the middle of my chest as usual. I hear a noise that rouses me. I call out my wife's name and don't get a response. I hear another noise and the cat jumps down to investigate. I figure the other cat is out roaming and he wants to see what she is up to. I hear another noise that sounds like it is coming from the back door. I look over my shoulder and see the door knob to the patio turning! Suspense movie time! Oh my gosh, someone is on my back porch trying to get in the house! What do I do? Do I turn on the lights? Do I open the Door? Do I go get a knife out of the kitchen? What do I do. Now, I always check all the doors before going to bed to make sure they are locked, so I know whoever it is can't get past the deadbolt. Then.........the door opens! I flew out of the chair ready to defend my family from these evil intruders. My son walk thru the door in his boxers. Dad? What the H E double hockeysticks are you doing outside at this time of night. I'm looking at the eclipse. I was trying to be quiet so I wouldn't wake you. Did I scare you? Slightly. We then proceeded to go out and look at the eclipse......on the winter solstice.

 

True Story!

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Thanks Trevorum, happy solstice to all. I think some religions, like Wicca, actually celebrate that. I remember actually getting a Winter Solstice card from somebody once.

 

As for the lunar eclipse, I love watching those, but this one was too far past my bedtime.

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Beaver,

That was much better than my eclipse story. I saw it begin around 1:30 AM, in holes thru the clouds. I went back out at 3:30 AM to see nothing but thick clouds - no moon in site. I did catch the ornamental reindeer on the front lawn in a very compromising position. Get a room!

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"...happy solstice to all. I think some religions, like Wicca, actually celebrate that."

 

Actually, all of us that are celebrating Christmas, are celebrating the soltice, celebrating the return of the light as they had for thousands of years before anyone even thought of attaching a Christian holiday to a celebration that was already going on. For me, the "reason for the season" is connection with a very long tradition of humans celebrating hope, as the light returns. May each of you find hope in the new year, knowing the sun returns, that whatever you sow has a chance to grow, and that we have a real reason to celebrate a birth....... of a new year.

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Please don't forget that we do have forum members from Down Under and from "Middle Earth" (formerly known as New Zealand). For them, this wasn't the winter solstice, but the summer solstice and their days (as in hours of daylight, wise crackers) are now getting shorter.

 

I need to save up the $$$ to go visit some friends down there. I think it would be fun to be singing carols around the barbie in my shorts. :)

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Heh, heh, believe it or not, the day length is pretty much the same 24 hours everywhere on earth.

Actually Mithra's birthday is a couple of days from now. I guess that might have been on the pope's mind in the 4th century when he decreed the same day to be the birthday for Jesus. But its all 'relevant' because of the seasons and the tilt of earth's axis. Nice.

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Moxie,

 

In my day, the Outdoor Rec majors at Unity College in Unity, Maine had a tradition of registering for Spring Semester classes in January wearing shorts. We didn't sing carols around a barbie but usually listened to the Dead while playing hackey sack in the parking lot.

 

The macho Con-Law guys came bundled up in parkas.

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