The season's activities

When it seems humanly impossible to do more in a difficult situation, surrender yourself to the inner silence and thereafter wait for a sign of obvious guidance or for a renewal of inner strength. Paul Brunton, Meditations for People in Crisis 

A beautiful reflection of the Lakeview Center, and the light tree in Lake Tomahawk, Black Mountain, NC.

These shots were taken the night we had a Holiday program in the pavillion, with Santa visiting.

He'd also been in the parade through downtown (which is only several blocks long).

The festivities include the free hotdogs, hot cocoa or cider, fruit and cookies which the Black Mountain folks passed out to anyone who came.

Though I don't eat buns with my hotdogs, I highly recommend not feeding them to the poor ducks, who obviously disagreed with me.

I dare say this lovely lady was part of festivities somewhere along the way.

The luminaries and the sunset sky added to the ambiance of a walk around the lake in the evening.

How do I decorate for solstice, you might ask?  Hopefully with some live greenery, and some indication that this is a time for dreaming, so symbols of the night like stars, moons and snowflakes.

Do I decorate for Christmas?  Yep.  I'm also in favor of Hanukkah and Kwanza.  But the main thing of all these festivities is that we come together in community and family, sharing love in the form of gifts.  These gifts may not be worth a lot of green money, but would be really appreciated if worth a lot of green energy in other ways.  Live plants are super.  Food and hand made crafts and art are also.  These show the love between us, and can become useful.