It’s time for a short break in blogging. Today is Winter Solstice, the holiday that my family celebrates in place of Christmas. (This makes my stepson doubly lucky — he gets Solstice with us, and Christmas with his dad. What’s not to like?) So, tonight is the big meal and the gift opening, and tomorrow we’re heading up to Lisboa to spend a few days with my brother-in-law.
Our kidlet is old enough now to learn what Winter Solstice really is, so I was planning to conduct a little astronomy lesson over dinner, using an orange for the Sun and a lime for Earth. Not quite to scale, I know, but one must be practical.
Unfortunately I forgot my intentions this morning, and juiced our last oranges. There went the Sun. I am now left with…a lemon. It’s a nice big lemon, true, but not exactly round. On the other hand, it’s yellow, so all is not lost.
I wish you a very Happy Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whichever holiday you choose to celebrate. May your season be full of family and friends, laughter, and really good food. And to get you started off right, here is Straight No Chaser with their original performance of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Practically everyone in the English-speaking world knows the lyrics to the song, but they don’t know the lyrics to this version.
(Okay, technically Winter Solstice isn’t until 05:30 tomorrow, but we’re not waiting.)
Oregon Expat 
Hahaha.. maybe you could slice another lemon and just use the slice as representation of the moon (crescent moon and such). And of course afterwards some more juicey goodies. But still lol
Oh and happy winter solstice to you and your family!
Thank you, and to you as well!
(And, the astronomy lesson went just fine. Actually I think the lemon worked better than an orange.)
Another a cappella version of Africa! Almost as kick-ass as the last one, for different reasons. I do love me a good medley.
Happy Solstice!
Happy Winter Solstice!
We lit many candles last evening in celebration of Solstice (which arrived at 9:30 p.m. for us). Ally tells me that today (the day after Solstice) will have one second more of daylight than yesterday!
Enjoy your celebrations and feasts. Happy Solstice!
Boas Festas!
Here’s looking at you 😉
http://thoughtballoonhelium.blogspot.com/2011/06/portland-oregon-trail.html
Heh. There’s no such thing as an overcrowded music scene. But that does sound like Portland!