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To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring. It was peace.   

            — Milan Kundera

A Quote

Habit is like a soft bed, easy to get into but hard to get out of.   — Anonymous

More Than Just Groundhog Day

February always comes as a surprise to me.  As much as I dislike winter and long for spring and summer, you would think I’d be counting every day.  But January always seems to be an extension of December.  We do Christmas with the in-laws on the 1st, Epiphany on the 6th, I still have lights in the windows…  So I’m always surprised when the month of January disappears and Ground Hog Day (February 2nd) is at the door.

Here in the states, February 2nd is known as Ground Hog Day. It’s a national thing and makes the news. Punxsutawney Phil is supposed to come out of his burrow and tell us whether or not Spring is on its way. Unfortunately, he’s not very accurate. He’s right about 39% of the time. Random chance is 33%. But it’s a big shindig in Punxsutawney, PA so I don’t think it will be going away any time soon.

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright

Winter will have another flight

If on Candlemas Day it be shower and rain

Winter is gone and will not come again.

– Old English proverb

Not everyone needed a groundhog to predict the end of winter!

February 2nd is also the midway point between winter and spring.  (Yes! Half way through! Happy Dance!) The days are starting to be noticeably longer and hope for better weather abounds.

It’s also Imbolc, a cross-quarter day between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Solstice. As it is considered the beginning of Spring, it is a time of cleansing and purification, growth and renewal. It is believed to have originated as a Pagan festival honoring the goddess Brighid and Christianized into the festival of Saint Brighid. To different degrees, both are still celebrated on or about this day.

Today is also Candlemas Day. Candlemas Day has had different meanings over time. It is the Christian festival of lights; combining when Jesus was brought to the temple 40 days after his birth and the time when all the candles to be used in the church are brought forth and blessed. In the past, this was also the time for the lady of the house to inventory the candles to make sure she had enough to get through the winter. Candles were important for light but also thought to give protection against illness.

Another tradition of Candlemas, the one that always sends me into a frenzy and wishing February didn’t arrive so quickly, is that Candlemas was also the time when all the Christmas decorations were to be removed to avoid bad luck in the house. (Christmas was a much longer affair, back when.) This custom persisted for hundreds of years. Today there are people who claim Twelfth Day or Epiphany is The Day. I, however, prefer to stick with Candlemas Day. It allows me to leave my lights up to brighten my evenings for a few weeks more. 😀

I wish I could figure out a way to take a really good picture of the lights in the window!

So today I’ll be stripping out the rest of Christmas from the house and lighting candles in celebration.  And there will be tea and treats, of course!

Blessings be to match, wax, flame.

Gratitudes to the Kindler on this our Candlemas Day.

– Sarah Ban Breathnach “Simple Abundance”

Blessings and Best Wishes!

A Quote

Time, like a snowflake, disappears while we’re trying to decide what to do with it. — Leo Kennedy 

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May I never miss a rainbow or a sunset because I’m looking down.   — Sara June Parker 

A Quote

A person’s age can be measured by the degree of pain one feels as one comes in contact with a new idea.  — Unknown

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What happiness there is when I awake to find near me the gift of a Morning!    — Abbie Graham

Happy New Year! (Be careful how you tread it…)

The New Year lies before you like a spotless track of snow.  Be careful how you tread it, for every mark will show.  — Unknown

Happy New Year, one and all!!!

 

An Irish Prayer

I arise this day

With love in my heart,

Through the warmth of the sun,

The radiance of the moon,

Freedom of the wind,

Joy of rushing water,

Splendor of fire,

Stability of earth,

Serenity of stars, and

The wisdom of silence.

I embrace this day,

Through the grace of life to guide me

And the promise of love to inspire me.

A Quote

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.  

          — Colette

My couch buddies of an evening.

And my partner on the trail.