Winter Solstice - The Longest Night

I thought this was the 23rd of December but it's actually the 21st, yesterday. That means the days are going to start getting longer and we will have more light. It's dark outside at the moment but it's good to know the days are getting longer as we nudge towards Christmas Day for a Cool Yule. Here's the Wikipedia entry for the Winter Solstice , make of it what you will.

I do prefer the thought of Druids at Stonehenge to Coke lorries crashing through towns , and I've previously mentioned on how Coke put their red and white all over Christmas.

We don't have snow and it is quite mild, but we shouldn't complain too much, we are at the weekend and for lazy people like me it's a sort of four day weekend. As a bonus the guy who was coming to fix my boiler flue tomorrow (between 7am and 7pm) came today, so that means I don't have to wait in tomorrow for him , and he get's a less fraught day before Christmas Eve.

So this is the third #SuddenlyItsChristmas post and it's another excuse to share Jethro Tull's "Ring Out Solstice Bells" which is a wonderful seasonal song, and still sounds wonderful. Enjoy and tomorrow maybe I'll post another seasonal classic.

On The Road

This weekend I drove 300 hundred inhospitable miles to and from Scotland. It that time I saw rain , snow , ice , surface flooding and coming back the combination of bright sunshine and wet roads made it like driving into an arc light . At one point the sun was coming through the trees to the right but due the speed and the distance between the trees it was like a stroboscopic effect. It inspired me to write this:

Hard Road

Hard Road

Speeding into the arc light

I should be aware of the road

 It's like a mirror

Can't see the markings

Can't see the other cars 

Three Lanes Bad

Two Lanes Worse

The sun is strobing

Through the trees

I still can't see

I've survived

Ice

Snow

Rain

Flood

I am still going

But

This isn't driving

It's just surviving

That's my unstructured "poem" of my experience over the weekend. Two small amendments were suggested by my good friend Joan , and they have been taken on board. Obvious choice for me is Black Sabbath's "Hard Road" , which is probably my favourite Sabbath Song, still gives me goosebumps

I really hope you have a had a great Christmas or Yule break and are ready to run up to the end of the year with gusto.

 

It's The Time Of The Season ......

We shouldn't need Christmas . We shouldn't need reminding that we should be there for friends , family and those less fortunate than us. I knew a guy who was rude throughout the the year but come Christmas Eve expected everyone to be his friend because it was Christmas. It doesn't really work like that for me.

You should be like that throughout the year. You should be there for people , they should be there for year. I'm not an Ebenezer Scrooge type , and am pleased if someone reforms there ways, but compassion and caring needs to be permanent not something based around a commercial date in a calendar.

Time of the Season

I love the joy of meeting friends , being with them , hugging them , laughing , holding hands , and why can't we do that everyday. It's good to have a day to celebrate even more but really if we are happy every day , and look forward to being happy we can deal with life's annoyances.

Anyway I hope this week is good for you , I intend to make it good for me. I have seen lots of close friends over the last week , and made plans to see lots more in January , sort of ignoring the fact there are only a finite number of days in the month.





Some friends have had bad times recently but things are improving for them. I said I was there for them and I know that was appreciated , because I know they would be there for me.

Have chosen a tenuous music link , but The Zombie's "Time of the Season" is always good to hear.

Have a fantastic week my totally brilliant friends

You Really Never Know

The only thing worse than something that doesn't work when it should is something that does work when it shouldn't. At the weekend a work laptop wouldn't connect to the home network by ethernet cable, however my home laptop connect up no problem.

Yesterday I tried again with another work laptop. It wouldn't connect. I disconnected everything , rebooted everything , still no go.

Ethernet Adapter

Checked my own laptop that connected no problem , so what was going on? Was there some weird work security? Checked my own laptop and looked at the connections and then it clicked. My home laptop was connecting via wifi, not the plugged in cable.It turns out the problem was a dead ethernet adapter which effectively knocked out the whole wired network. This is what they look like -->


Then this morning the router decided to knock out the wifi , but managed to sort that as well, so all is back on track which is good.

Also his morning Chris Evans played Run With The Fox by Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes , so that can be our Yule Jewel.

Another Day

Nothing much to say tonight. There's no snow and the weather is reasonable. It's really been just one of those days. The train wasn't late , neither was the bus, but again it was 2:30 before I got a sandwich to eat which isn't good.

Anyway just wishing peace and good stuff to everyone before I fall asleep.

The seasonal song is The Winter Solstice Song (Yule) by Lisa Thiel, who I know nothing about , but this is a very pleasant piece indeed.

Who's That In A Winter Wonderland?

For December I'm including a seasonal related song every day, but not one that appears on any "Now That's What I Call Christmas" album, although I don't think it's too much of a challenge. Also I want it to be stuff that you can listen to as well. So toady it's the turn of the rather excellent Grandaddy.

While the season was hijacked by the catholic church, it's obviously rooted in pagan worship and really on god is much the same as another, but doesn't stop us practicing goodwill to all men and women, and really it shouldn't be just now but every day of the year.

We should be there for our friends, family and those in need , we should always extend a helping hand , because if we show kindness to others then they will pass that kindness on. Yes there are a few who will try and take advantage, but don't let them spoil the good stuff. Practice lots of hugs with the person nearest you and you will feel great. Have a wonderful night everyone.