Menopause Matters Forum
General Discussion => This 'n' That => Topic started by: Taz2 on December 21, 2013, 12:39:21 AM
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The Winter Solstice is nearly here, the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. For centuries out of time, people have celebrated this sacred festival of earth and sun, a special day shared by all inhabitants of this planet, no matter what other spiritual or religious beliefs may divide us.
Here is a powerful poem by author Susan Cooper that reminds us of the beauty of the Yuletide season. May it bring a bit of joy and hope to all our hearts. Read the poem here:
The Shortest Day
By Susan Cooper
And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!
Sigh!
Taz :sigh:
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:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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Powerful and emotive words..we can but hope!
D&P x
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That's lovely Taz. Happy Yule! It's great to be welcoming back the light.
Sal x
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Love it Taz :-*
Here is a pic to compliment the poem
(http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/94/cf/01/94cf01b043ef19f76226333dbe72ca0a.jpg)
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Not that I'm celebrating but thank you! I was going to pop down to Stonehenge but it's so rainy. Hopefully it will clear in time for sunset.
Taz x
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Beautiful poem.
And so we move forward in hope.
Honeyb
x
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Taz, that's a beautiful poem, very emotive.Thanks for sharing
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Well even though I am feeling very sad that we are at the shortest day and we are indeed celebrating the returning of the light and my favourite time of year will soon be disappearing I thought I would enter into the spirit of things and post a poem! It is far too wet to go to either Stonehenge or Avebury which is where I have often ended up for Winter Solstice so I will curl up on the sofa in a little while and watch the last of the light fade.
Taz x :xmas:
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Pitch dark here Taz and has been for ages. You should really move north. We get more winter here so you would love it.
Honeyb
x
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Taz have you never considered moving up north?
It's colder and darker, the nights really are long up there.
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It most definitely is. I think that's why I struggle a bit. It's the unrelenting greyness. We have a lot of mountains and hills around us and they look wonderful in the sun but menacing in the mist and rain. It's enough to get anyone down.
It takes until spring before I remember why I like living here ;D
Honeyb
x
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What happens in the summer? Do you have longer days though? I have a friend in The Orkneys who says I would love the winters but hate the summers. Might have to live one season in one place and another season in another place ;D
North would be too far from my Devon retreat though....
Taz x
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In the summer for us it gets sort of dark around 11pm. We don't get a lot of proper darkness for a good few months. Don't know if that would suit or not.
We are not that far north. Cuba Girl is in Aberdeen so about three hours travelling from me.
Guess we are a long way from Devon though ;D
Honeyb
x
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Fear not Taz - The days may be longer but you get so many bites from the midges that you have to stay inside anyway ;D
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Midges only bite foreigners ;D ;D
Honeyb
x
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Thanks HB that really helps :-*
Anyway, my Granny and Grandad came from Scotland, had hoped that might be enough to give immunity.
Wrong again ;D
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Definitely wouldn't suit me in the summer then with the longer daylight hours and the midges don't sound too much fun either. Think I will stick to being a Southerner!!
Taz x
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My hubby is an honorary Scots man. The midges don't go after him. ;D
I love the long days with no proper darkness, that's the joy of living further north. There have to be some benefits after enduring the winter months.
Honeyb
x
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What's a joy to you would be an un-joy to me!!
Taz ;D
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Wish I could embrace the darkness Taz! We are in Cumbria so we do get lovely long days in the summer, which I love. Yesterday was so dull and rainy that we had the lights on most of the day. I love the seasons though, so wouldn't swap.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the winter,
Sal x
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Thanks Sal. It is just that I feel that I have come home when the Autumn and Winter are here - somehow rooted and settled. I never feel like that in the summer. I hate waking up when it is already light. I must think I might miss something!
Taz x
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That's a lovely way to put it Taz, feeling like you have come home! You've reminded me to look at the positive aspects like cosy fires, candles, time to reflect, so thank you.
Sal x
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You're welcome!
It's also about the landscape this time of year and the trees showing off their shapes instead of being shrouded in leaves. It just gives me a little shiver inside. It always has done and the Robin's Autumn/Winter song too really makes me feel complete somehow.
Taz x
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I do like the seasons if only they could be proper ones that follow a pattern.
Winter can be lovely. Crisp frosts and blue skies.
When we get constant storms it gets me down.
I love being cosy warm in the house but the fact I never want to go out in the rain makes the winters very long.
Honeyb
x
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I did think of you yesterday Taz (no I haven't seen any stag beetles, too early I know) ;D.
I always think of you on the shortest day of the year, the longest day of the year.
Or if I see a shooting star or a meteor shower.
Oh & stag beetles :rofl:
Love Cazi x
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:lol:
Don't forget the rescued hedgehogs Cazi!!
Taz x
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Yes, I remember that one too...
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Arctic Circle then Taz. Rarely light for more than 2/3 hours year round. Finland has a high rate of suicide because of the dullness and un-remitting grey ……….. give me seasons, light and shade ………. Spring flowers, Autumn colours …….
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I don't understand the Finland suicide rates though. Finland has four seasons just like us and their winters are often very sunny - freezing cold but bright and sunny? Are you thinking of Greenland?
I love the seasons too - Autumn and Winter. ;D
Taz x
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Finnish suicide rates have always been renowned for being high.
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Yes but the suicide rates are not due to the weather as Finland does not normally have long spells of grey and dull weather - that's what I meant in a roundabout way. The situation there is improving though.
Taz x :)
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Its count down for me to lighter nights and I can leave the horses out and it's easier for me to manage them rather than fumbling in the dark!
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:sunny:
.....only just catching up
Lovely poem Taz.
The winter solstice always gives me a thrill because the year has turned and begins to wax, but I also love this time of year - the deepest part of the darkness when it gets dark early and you can curl up in front of the fire with all the lights and greenery brought in for Christmas, and the clear cold sunny days like today, with the sounds of the fieldfares chattering away as they eat the fallen apples in the orchard....
Hurdity x
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Yes but the suicide rates are not due to the weather as Finland does not normally have long spells of grey and dull weather - that's what I meant in a roundabout way. The situation there is improving though.
Taz x :)
Suicide remains a fairly common cause of death in Finland. According to the most recent figures from Statistics Finland, dating back to 2007, suicide is the fourth most common cause of death of men of working age, and the fifth most common for working-age women. The most common causes of death both for men and women are related to the use of alcohol.
In 2007, 995 deaths in Finland were determined to be suicides. The number has declined by one third from the record year of 1990, when 1,520 people in Finland took their own lives.
In Greenland, which has the highest suicide rate in the world, most of them occurred in the summer - the long days leading to more insomnia.
Bramble
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::) Well I was trying to cheer the mood of this thread
Hurdity :)
:sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
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We haven't had any fieldfares yet - apart from the ones flying high overhead.
I have a really good friend who loves Spring and Summer so as she goes up as Spring approaches I go down and then as Autumn arrives she goes down and I go up. It is our "friendship seesaw" ;D
Taz x