Just Delicate Needles

Just Delicate Needles

It's so delicate, the light.

And there's so little of it. The dark

is huge.

Just delicate needles, the light,

in an endless night.

And it has such a long way to go

through such desolate space.

So let's be gentle with it.

Cherish it.

So it will come again in the morning.

We hope.

--by Rolf Jacobsen

Translated by Robert Hedin

Happy Winter Solstice!  Tonight will find me drinking Swedish Glogg and singing carols and reading books like The Longest Night to the children.  I'm not really sure how that will go, with the glogg and all, but we'll see.  We are VERY excited.  We'll also be decorating a Solstice Tree outside with bagels dipped in peanut butter and birdseed, and exchanging homemade presents.  And then the children will crash, and the moms will too.  I just love my homebirthin' hippie friends that I can share these things with.  Makes me VERY happy.  We get so damn giddy about it.  And there is snow on the ground, making it even more special. 

Oh, and in case I remember to look back next December, let this be a reminder to maybe get the Christmas Tree sooner than six days before Christmas?