Happy Solstice!!

Happy (belated) Solstice!! (Technically it's still solstice since I haven't gone to bed yet, right?! LOL)

I am *SO* blessed this Solstice...

• to be sharing it with dh who DID arrive back on Paradise before midnight last night...
• to be blessed with caring relatives who lent me their 4x4 to go pick dh up from the airport, and who cared for our children while i was out driving in blizzard-like conditions...
• to be blessed with these same relatives, who shared their home with us and allowed us to sleep over when we returned late and tired, who always welcome us into their home with open arms...
• for the beautiful, beautiful snowfall that graced the world around us overnight (our relatives live on top of a hill - as in, they have a 400m near-vertical driveway!)...
• SO grateful for the chains I bought for the car not 2 wks ago, and for learning how to put them on (yes, this morning, in 8 inches of snow), and for the car's EXCELLENT handling ability in this weather - YEAH for AWD and all-season tires & chains. YEAH for Subaru! :)
• Also so VERY grateful for the community coming together for the postponed neighbourhood christmas party today, for the father who dropped by and then went home and passed the message on to his wife and kids, who really enjoyed coming, for the assistance of the others who really went all out to get crafts and activities organized, who enjoyed the food, for Santa who came and entertained, despite a smaller-than-normal turnout, for the heat and electricity running in the hall, for the volunteer fire chief who went up early and turned the heat on so it would be warm when we got there...
• Filled with gratitude for the road crews who have been out there sanding and plowing, even our rural side road today, as the snow continues to fall.
• Thankful for our very functional woodstove and dry, split firewood.
• Thankful that my son enjoyed a long visit with his bf, who lives next door. They played so well together today and we all enjoyed dinner together; dd got us playing the alphabet game.
• So thankful that dh made dinner tonight. (I was up several hrs last night with insomnia and was exhausted by this evening). Also b/c I just didn't want to be making cooked food when I'm committed to eating raw, and I feel like I've really been struggling with eating raw in this cold weather... there is such a strong addictive pull towards cooked foods and winter - such a strong association, of comfort foods and hunkering down. For my continued good health, I simply MUST choose to make new associations, new traditions. (Especially with Christmas coming up in a mere days; yes, I'm feeling a tad anxious what it's going to look like - a raw vegan christmas dinner, amidst a feast of meat and dairy, of cooked foods, of family, of personal struggles with willpower and mindless eating, and yes, of judgments, from myself and from others).
• To enjoy the love, companionship and friendship with a wonderful husband.
• So blessed this solstice for my good health and flexibility, that I enjoyed rowing today and love that rowing is such a special personal solstice celebration. :)

Blessings & gratitude to you, this winter Solstice.

In light,

~n~