 |
| The Most Dramatic Sunrises Occur Near the Winter Solstice |
 |
| Waning Moon at Sunrise |
 |
| A Mirror to Our Sun |
 |
| Wide Angle Shot Makes the Mount Holyoke Range and Mount Tom Much Smaller and Farther Away Than Reality. |
 |
| This Image Side by Side With The One of Mount Tom Below Would Reveal My View More Fully |
 |
| Gathering Greens from the Blueberry Field |
 |
| Carrying White Pine Seedlings Up the Hill |
 |
| Half Way Home Coming Through the Apple Gateway |
Each year I thin out white pine seedlings growing within the blueberry field and use the greens to celebrate the Winter Solstice and Christmas. It is quite a chore to carry the pine boughs and seedlings up the hill to the farmhouse. I am thankful for all the help I have in this ritual. I love bringing the fragrant green pine boughs inside, for it makes me feel closer to the forest and the verdant color helps to make up for the absence of green in the landscape. I usually cut a Christmas tree from the forest on Christmas Eve.
We . . . in the Northern Hemisphere . . . have made it through the darkest day. Tomorrow our days begin lengthening and the sunrises I see from my windows, appearing to rise over the Mount Holyoke Range, will slowly start to move more left climbing and cresting over Carey Hill. Each day . . . inch by inch . . . minute by minute . . . we will enjoy more sunlight.
I so wish that our wide world and all its life could be enveloped in Joy and Light.
