SOLSTICE 2017

SOLSTICE   2017

Happy holidays to one and all, no matter what holiday you celebrate!

Everyone should celebrate the holiday season anyway they want to. ‘ Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Holidays’ should mean the same thing.  Some folks celebrate the religious aspect of the season; other folks just celebrate the season.  I’m one of the latter.

Solstice was a time of celebration long before Christianity was invented.  Our caveman (and cave women) ancestors noticed that sometimes the days seemed to be getting shorter and shorter.  And that worried them.  What would happen if there were no more days?  Then the days started getting longer again, everyone was happy, and all they all had a party.  And Solstice has been a time of celebration from then on.

Different cultures put a different spin on things.  Some folks saw it as an aspect of a repeating natural cycle, a cycle that, perhaps, had arcane implications.  The Romans turned it into Saturnalia, a time of gift giving, and masters serving servants.   The return of the Sun became the birth of the Son for Christians.   And that’s fine: to each his (or her) own.

However, my reasons for celebrating Solstice instead of Christmas have nothing to do with history, religion, or philosophy.  OK, maybe a little bit with philosophy.  My ex-wife, Pat, deplored the commercialization of Christmas.  She wasn’t especially religious.  She wasn’t religious at all.  She just thought that the holidays should be about more than just buying shit.  As her personal protest, Pat started celebrating Solstice instead of Christmas.

And I have taken it upon myself to carry on Pat’s custom of celebrating Solstice. There are some practical considerations as well.  Holiday visiting is always a problem.  Where to go on Christmas Eve, and how long to stay?  Where to go Christmas Day, and how long to stay?  I don’t have to worry about any of that.  My holiday obligations are behind me by Dec. 24.

 

Gift-giving is the part of Solstice that I like the best.  I buy things that catch my eye, it’s not all junk, but even the junk is interesting (to me anyway).   And I stuff this stuff into Christmas (Solstice) stockings.  Gift-getting is OK too, but giving is better.  I appreciate gifts, and I’m sure the gift selection was thoughtful, but I never get any of the things I would like to have.

For example, just the other day my darling daughter asked me what I would like for Christmas (she means Solstice).   The best present I could get, I replied candidly and honestly, would be to have a live-in/nurse/housekeeper/companion/sexual surrogate.  Jessica agreed that would be a nice present, but a bit too dear for her purse.  But she didn’t turn down the idea outright.

I have a suggestion, and I hope I’m not being too presumptuous.   If anyone was thinking about giving me a holiday gift, may I suggest that instead they send money to Jessica.   Small, regular, monthly amounts seem to be the easiest way to go; sort of like contributing to ‘Save the Children’, or PBS.  Anyway, it’s just a suggestion.

Best wishes for the holidays, all of them, Christmas, Solstice, Saturnalia, etc., and I wish you health and happiness in the New Year.