Dreaming of a White Solstice…

Happy Winter Solstice / Yule to those who observe it!

We got off easy this time here in Pepperell–just a couple of inches of snow and it’s snowing very lightly now, almost stopped. But hey, we paid our dues with 11″ of snow and then pouring rain on top of it, on December 9! There was still plenty of that left on the ground, and I’m just as happy I won’t have to wade through a lot of new snow to scatter the Yule Log ashes around the house tonight (or spend an hour today shoveling, for that matter!). I’ll do Tarot reading and Yule Log fire tonight starting at midnight, and my ritual at the exact time of the Solstice tomorrow (12:35 p.m. local time). I saved a nice whole birch log from the woodpile for the Yule Log and collected holly and ivy from my yard to decorate it. I don’t know if I’m up to an all-night-until-dawn vigil, though! Tomorrow night is the last video production class and I have “homework” for that.

I spent most of Friday cleaning, tidying and putting things away, so the house feels pleasantly rejuvenated. I’d hate to tell you how long it’s been since I did anything much besides occasional sweeping. I scrubbed out the tub enclosure, dusted the most visible surfaces, scrubbed things in the kitchen, moved stuff around to get underneath and behind them, and did a little reorganizing, too. All the “book inventory” is now in one spot! I’m continuing to rearrange the “living room” to be a working studio so I can seriously boost my productivity. I’m making some solid changes in my priorities for 2010–fewer conventions, less “social networking,” more podcasting, blogging and videocasting. Right now, I’m trying out a bona fide ad on Facebook to see what happens. It just went live and I set it to run for a month.

I no longer have a bunny-proof spot for a Yule Tree even if I wanted one: all the tables are now workspaces with computers and equipment on them! I do have some decorations up: a big silver tinsel snowflake/star, and I made a “kissing bush.” This is actually a old tradition, pre-dating the modern sprig of hanging mistletoe. I clipped evergreen branches, bundled them into a sort of fluffy bouquet, hung it up and wrapped lights around it. It looks pretty! More to the point, it’s animal-proof. 🙂

I went out yesterday afternoon because I was nearly out of peanut butter–can’t be snowed in without peanut butter! Despite all the ominous weather forecasts, Donelan’s (the grocery store down the street) was no busier than a typical Saturday, all shelves were fully stocked, even the milk and bread, and no signs of pre-storm anxiety were in evidence. I gave the Salvation Army bell ringer a dollar and he gave me a candy cane. 🙂 At one point I realized with amusement that my characters in Rainbow Stone House were about to get buried–that part of Massachusetts was at the storm’s “ground zero,” they got 15″-20″. I could just imagine them making vampiric preparations for being snowbound!

Cleaning rewarded me with another of those minor pleasant lost-and-found surprises. I’d been grumping because I was sure I’d lost the cap to one of my new 16GB flash drives at video class two weeks ago. It turned up underneath one of the stereo speakers. I have no idea how it got there, but I’m not complaining! Thank you to the fae, the universe or whomever for returning the flash drive cap! 😉

To everyone who did get socked by the big storm, I hope you’re digging out and doing okay!