Ed’s Corner

Turning to Light

Boy, it sure gets dark early! By 3:30 it feels like the sun is already starting to set. I have noticed quite a few people remarking about this. Are we noticing it more this year than others? Do we, ourselves, feel darker inside us? Are we more sensitive or vulnerable because of the unfathomable Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, or the impact Hurricane Sandy had on all of us? Do we just forget from year to year? Is it payback for those long, lazy days of summer?

There’s no wonder that candles, lanterns, lights of different kinds play a big part in the festivals and special days celebrated at this time of year. I know that at my house we are lighting a fire almost every night in our fireplace, for physical as well as soul warmth. Some of us even sleep in the den at times, slowly closing our eyes with the crackling of flames and the drafts of heat.

Kids and adults love campfires. Can you find a spot near your home to make one: backyard, in the fireplaces or grills to be found in nearby parks? Even just a little one will do, made with branches and twigs, in a small fire circle made of stones. Outdoor fires are magic, with the embers flying up to the sky as if to become stars themselves. Your children may remember this fire forever. This bringing forth of one of the elemental forces and the fact that he/she did it with YOU!

The Winter Solstice, the first day of winter, is December 21st. Soon after that the amount of daylight increases daily and the sun’s path in the sky inches ever upward. About the third week of January is when many people start to notice and feel that there is a change, something is different, that there is once again a turning to light.