Wednesday, May 14, 2014


Winter's here already!

I hold winter-finding, my Heathen autumnal holiday, on the first cold day after the autumnal equinox. This year, it didn't fall until April 20th. It's a little unnerving, to have had such a long summer. In fact, now that the cold weather seems to be staying put, the change from summery to autumnal temperatures seems abrupt, and the cold nights have set in so quickly, and before I know it it's halfway through May and winter is here, already! 

It's good to be able to wear all my long-sleeved tops again, but we have no fire this year, so it won't be the same. 

I feel a bit cheated out of my autumn. I love autumn. The rain, the smells of the season, the long,  early twilight. The cool air and the peace. The blues and greens and browns - the trees knew when autumn was meant to be, and many have shed their leaves by the time it rolled around. 

And now it's winter - well. Not insofar as we've had a morning frost, or anything like that, but I went outside at 4pm today and the shadows were long, and the sun was so near to the horizon, and it felt like winter. The twilights are shorter now, too, somehow. That's something I'd never noticed before with the changing of the seasons. 

I haven't yet held my Old Year's Night ritual, but I plan to do so tonight. It's a week late, almost, but I keep missing holidays and I really feel that I have to hold this one, to usher winter in. It's my favourite holiday. My Heathen celebration will wait until I smell winter properly in the air. I'll know when the time is right. 

Sorry to have left you so long without a post. I feel like I've been a bit.... all over the place, for the last couple of months. It's really time to pull myself together - I mean, actually pull all my projects and bits and pieces inwards, and look at them and take stock and centre myself and work properly with them. But it's that time of year, really. Introspective. 

Oh but you have no idea how happy I am that it's winter. I missed this season so much. The summer was unbearably long.