Happy Winter Solstice!!

"The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, respectively, in the sense that the length of time elapsed between sunrise and sunset on this day is a minimum for the year"

Which means, gentle readers, that we have reached the midpoint, and are heading toward Spring.

Which is relative, if you ask me. Because there are 3 months of bleak cold days and nights ahead of us. BUT, the light of day is increasing. I'll keep repeating that to myself, ya know, as I'm laying on the couch, covered in seed catalogues, fantasizing about gardens and compost and battling bugs. Mmmmmm....compost......

In other news, the great Holiday..NOT HOLIDAY DAMMIT, CHRISTMAS (Gawd that irritates me) The great CHRISTMAS Cookie extravaganza is nearly at it's end. I washed out all the cans last night (and a lovely bit of decoration 20 cookie cans provide to my kitchen) Tonight I shall wrap the lids in the festive holographic CHRISTMAS paper I got, and start packing cookies. Those of you who are on the cookie list might not receive your cookies by CHRISTMAS, but shortly thereafter, fear thee not. Really. Anyway, blame the mail, not me. It couldn't be me, the Queen Bee of Procrastinators, the pitcher of fits! It's the damn postal service. Really.

Mountain Man is back from Antarctica, as of the 15th, but yesterday he sent me an email full of pictures and the narrative of his trek. Very interesting, but I cannot imagine myself in his crampons. Minus 20 is a tad nipplely for my tastes. And frankly, I have enough trouble exploring flat ground, let alone a 16,000+ foot peak. But he tells a good story. In a related moment, I also received a semi-distressed email from him requesting recipes for cheese and other goodies to give his family and friends for Christmas. Apparently there are no mauls in Antarctica, making holiday shopping somewhat problematic. Imagine.

No I don't have a CHRISTMAS tree, but thanks for asking. Unless I run across a Charlie Brown tree out there someplace who has given it's life in vain, I won't be having one. I'm running out of days to admire it, and honestly, the idea of moving all the stuff out of the CHRISTMAS tree corner of the living room for a week of in house evergreen leaves me just a tad ambivalent. I put lights on the little one in front of my house, so that will have to suffice.

The CHRISTMAS dinner at the Momster's house might be rather small indeed. She and I. The couple that were invited have suddenly come down with a terrible case of the flu, and are very sick. Snot and body aches and all the joys that come with it. They sent her a very descriptive email, which she forwarded on to me. I think it's a cop out, but thats just me. Maybe the Revolutionary War re-enactor will show up, in his puffy shirt, breeches, and bringing mulberry flump or some shit. Wonder when I can start drinking wine?

And thats all for now, because I know those of you who read the morning blogs are pissing down your collective legs to have something else to read. Perhaps later I can continue.