Thursday, December 21, 2023

Saturn's Fire

Inspirational song: Ring Out, Solstice Bells (Jethro Tull)

According to the ancient traditions, we gathered around a bonfire, on the longest night of the year. We had a rich, wonderful dinner made by my daughter. And we asked for the blessings of Saturn for a prosperous new year. It might have been a tiny bit chaotic, with two very young children not wanting to sit still around a fire, but instead wanting to walk around, climb on their play structure, and help daddy throw last year's junk mail into the fire. Not really their scene, not at this age. We grownups had a good time watching the fire as one solar year dies and a new one is born. Io Saturnalia.

My favorite kid saying of the night: the children each had two glow sticks, the stubby kind that they encourage them to carry for visibility when trick-or-treating. Valerie kept talking about how she liked playing with "glue sticks." We all shuddered, imagining the mess she could make with glue sticks tonight. I was picturing hot glue. Not sure what the others thought of.

Several weeks ago, I decided to embrace the TV antenna cable wrapping halfway around the upper quarter of my bedroom walls. Rather than looking for a way to hide it, I chose to drape some kind of garland along it and make it an art piece. I took my time about creating that art. I used a whole spool of cotton twine left over from my plant hanging creations, and macramed a twisted rope around a long string of green fairy lights and some brass bell strands from Hobby Lobby. I finished it tonight, and I've loosely tacked it up running from behind the TV to the window where the antenna sits. I might fiddle with it some, or I might leave it looking primitive and free-flowing. As of now, I'm thinking the latter.

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