Hi everyone!
I’d like to pen something super-serious and politically relevant, but I don’t have the attention span at the moment. So instead, I’ll just ask you all to describe your holiday traditions this time of year. What, if anything, do you do? Songs, movies, decorations, presents, family, food, rituals… what do the holidays entail for you? Anything you can think of. Any culture, any religion, any background, any upbringing, or any lack thereof. Tell me about it!
The winter solstice “occurs exactly when the Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26′. Though the winter solstice lasts only a moment in time, the term is also a turning point to midwinter and the first day of winter.”
That moment occurs tomorrow, December 21st, at UTC 17:11 or 11:11 a.m. Central Time, which is my time zone.
Of course, that is the scientific explanation. We know better!
Twice a year, on the solstice holidays, Basement Cat and Ceiling Cat are locked in mortal combat over the Light. At summer solstice, Basement Cat prevails and the light starts receding … gradually at first and then more quickly until the autumnal equinox, when the light and dark are equal.
Twice a year, on the Solstice holidays, Basement Cat and Ceiling Cat are locked in mortal combat over the Light. At Winter Solstice, Ceiling Cat prevails and the light starts returning … gradually the memory of basement cat fades until finally the light and dark are equal on Spring Equinox.
A lot of people think of the United States as a religious country, but really, it’s just a religious world out there. The US simply happens to have a lot of Christians. If you go hunting statistics, you’ll generally find estimates between about 12 and 17% for the “nonreligious” (atheist, agnostic, secular humanist, etc.) world population. From my personal heathen perspective, the religiosity in America and around the world is a bit puzzling. I doubt I will ever truly understand the need people seem to have for religion, though some of what I read indicates that it may increase life expectancy in some places and for various reasons. (But then again, so does owning a pet, so I figured I’d skip the religion bit and adopt four cats.)
This season tends to annoy me a tad, primarily due to the “in your face” attitude of so many southern Christians. Most of them mean well, of course, so it’s hardly something I feel comfortable directly criticizing; it still makes for many moments of slight vexation and exasperation, however, which I do my best to cover with a polite smile.