#Solstice #Christmas How It Came to Be

For the past six years, we've celebrated Solstice. It started when we shared the farm with our son and his wife. The holiday was very appropriate since we lived off the land, we have native American blood, and Christmas is rooted in the centuries-old holiday. Our celebration is a mixture of native American and European tradition.

We left the farm a few years ago, but we've continued our holiday celebration

Solstice 2012

on Solstice. We now have a granddaughter. Last year, she was old enough to grasp the concept and joined in for the fire ceremony. She was beyond cute and touched our hearts when she came up with her own set of things to be thankful for and what future blessings she saw. Quite a feat for a four-year-old.

Celebrating Solstice serves another purpose in that we don't have to share our son and family with anyone else that day. Selfish?

38 year-old-decoration

Yep. We do try to see them on Christmas Eve or Christmas, but it isn't always possible because they give time to my daughter-in-law's family.

I'm going to share with you the fire ceremony. Each year, one of us is the leader. This is the leader's speech as he guides us through the ritual.

The traditions of Solstice mean:

Decorating is the way we ward off the darkness of winter

Evergreens such as the tree and ivy represent the return of the New Year and new growth of both the Earth and within each of

us.

Fire celebrates the longed for return of longer days of sunshine and warmth.

Our Solstice Eve meal is a gathering to share love and foods of our ancestry.

Gift giving on Solstice morning began with the Shamans and continues with our present-day Santa Claus. They gave to us the spirit of giving which each of us embodies.

Solstice 2013

Now we will each choose a direction. We honor the directions of North, South, East, and West to help us focus on the unique nature of Solstice and the wonders that open to us on every side. Remember both the physical attributes of each direction and what is in your heart.

Each direction represents an element or part of nature. Read the general thoughts of that element, and then speak on how that relates to you and your own thoughts.

Praise what you find most precious about the season and our simple festival.

May this Solstice and turning of the season bring us love, peace, and good fortune in the coming year.

The remaining four of us each speak to the direction:

NORTH

This direction represents Earth.

When you focus on North and Earth, know:

This is the season of cold.

But there is life waiting to germinate and be born.

We are part of Earth.

Solstice 2014

WEST

This direction represents the element of WATER.

When you focus on West and water know:

We are reminded of restless seas and wandering spirits.

This brings the blessing of movement.

We are seeking new directions, and we are emotional as the new year begins.

SOUTH

The element of FIRE (think of physical fire and the fire within you)

When you focus on South represented by fire and heat, know:

Heat of life ripens the earth.

Our heat seeks the roots of our life.

With the warmth comes stability.

2016

EAST

The element of AIR (the air around us and your breath within)

When you focus on the East represented by air, know:

New life awakens with each breath and spreads through the world in spring.

This is the direction of peace.

Our spirit will triumph.

And then we roast marshmallows and make smores! Can't have a fire without those.

Happy Solstice and Merry Christmas to you all!

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE MEANS EASY SHOPPING #holidaygiftguide #holidayshopping #Christmasgifts #books

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You may even find a book or two to treat yourself to. This shopping is hard work. . . you deserve it. For the Holiday Gift Guide, click HERE.

Christmas Suspense #TuesdayThoughts

How about a great holiday read that's full of suspense AND romance? Love, Murder, dishonest politicians, snow, small Arizona mountain town, rock star, and most of all suspense...

This Christmas, Penny Spark’s desire to reconnect with family causes her to expose her true identity—a secret she’s hidden for thirteen years from the political powers who murdered her family.

Jake Winters is out of rehab and coming to grips with his demons. When he meets Penny, he believes this holiday season could be the start of life after rock star status…until her secrets blow up his world.

With a government agent turned hit man closing in on her, Penny and Jake race to expose the presidential contender behind the murders of her family. Even if they win the race with death, the murder that stands between them could end their hope for a new life.

Amazon Buy Link

DO NOT PUT MARSHMALLOWS IN MY POTATOES

 Tortuga Thursday

In 2012, on the plains of Northern Arizona, two families joined forces and began the trials and tribulations of building a small family farm with nothing in the bank but love.

No long post for Tortuga Thursday, which was actually yesterday. Too busy with Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. We all went down to Phoenix where the dinner was hosted by Duke and Jodee, my brother and sister-in-law. We contributed grilled veggies from our garden via the freezer and sweet potatoes. We still have a couple of crates of sweet potatoes from our harvest. But we don't like the candied kind so I cooked up a skillet full using Christie's recipe. I'll offer this recipe for today's blog. Hope you all had a thankful Thanksgiving!

As always with the typical way we cook on the farm, no exact measurements. Amounts depend on how many people you have and your taste.

Cut up sweet potatoes. You can peel or not peel - up to you. I used six for this skillet.
Chop up onions. I used two big ones.
Chop garlic. I used three cloves
Curry and Cajun seasoning to taste. I suppose most of you will want some salt. I don't cook with salt.
A stick of real butter. I did use a whole stick for this much.

Melt the butter in the skillet and add everything else. Cook until tender.

Who's Your Muse?

Muse Monday
I've heard artists of all sorts talk of their muse. Many of my writer friends will reference their muse when a story or inspiration for a story comes to them. I usually couldn't add to the conversation because my muse has either not shown herself or maybe I've not been assigned one. There may only be so many to go around, and my name hadn't been drawn. I'm not sure I'd know her if she walked in the door anyway.

What exactly does a muse look like? I checked the dictionary and generally a muse is a goddess or power that inspires. Pretty cool having your own goddess. But then there are numerous cases of the muse being anything but a goddess. Picasso had Marie-Therese Walter. Lucky Patti Boyd was muse to both George Harrison and Eric Clapton.

Since I've never had writer's block, and there is a general belief that one's muse has gone AWOL when this affliction strikes, then my muse must work overtime. She's obviously too busy to even introduce herself. I picture her cooped up somewhere in a miniscule cubicle of my mind (soul? heart?), dipping her pen into the inkwell, jotting down bits and pieces of ideas on translucent paper that she then crumbles into sparkly dust and blows into my mind (soul? heart?).

I'm afraid I'm letting my muse down lately. She might even be the one who feels abandoned and in need of inspiration. What must she think when my life has been too crazy for me to put in my normal hours of writing, letting her great ideas and inspirational sound bites languish in piles of sparkly dust? I know I'm getting pretty antsy. First the holidays and now baby preparations - grand baby that is. Happy times even though my writing is taking a backseat.

Hopefully, she'll hang around. And if she should decide to take a vacation, there's a pile of ideas to last me until she returns.

Party With a Purpose

Tonight is the first holiday party. This is the annual HAMA (Holiday And Member Appreciation) party. The club is called StMinneSomePlace in Paradise Parrotheads. Don't know what a Parrothead is? Ever heard of Jimmy Buffett? Those of us that like his music are called Parrotheads. My husband and I first hooked up with the club when we moved to Minnesota. We were having an awful time making friends, and we happened on an article on the Internet. And so began our base of friends.

Parrotheads like to party, sing Buffett songs, act perfectly silly and some are given to wearing outlandish get-ups. But our motto is "party with a purpose" which means whenever we gather, one or more charities benefit. Even tonight's party, which is meant to thank all the members with gifts and fun, will have a thread of charity. We'll be collecting tots for toys, food for the food bank and probably something else I'm not even aware of.

We've booked a good portion of a hotel. Many of us will spend the night - always recommended when there are margaritas flowing freely. There will be food, music and merchandise. Mostly there will be lots of fun and silliness. But behind it all will be the idea of charity. It's that time of year. With the Parrotheads, it's year-round, I'm proud to say.

If you're starting your holiday partying this weekend, have fun and be safe. And if you can, give to someone who isn't so lucky to be able to party.

Ending the Year With a Bang

This year is ending in a flurry of activity and I'm having trouble keeping up. On the editing job side, I'm winding up one book and starting two new ones - deadlines loom. On the writing side, I'm editing 2 books at once and those release dates are crowding me. Argh - more deadlines looming. If it sounds like I'm complaining, well, I'm not really. How can I complain about having great work like editing and I certainly am not complaining about having a couple of more books published. I love this! But I am whining a bit about not enough hours in the day. I've got to fit in marketing for the new releases and still try to get my current book written and ready for a conference in April. Yikes!

This is the time of year I absolutely love. As Thanksgiving approaches and I'm looking forward to Christmas and the New Year festivities, my spirits always soar. But it does seem a bit crowded with activity right now. We are also most likely moving across country between Christmas and New Year's Eve. We should know by tomorrow if our offer on a new home has been accepted. It's looking really good. So how is that going to come together along with a trip to visit family for the holidays? I have NO idea. That deadline is looming with no clear plan on how to accomplish it right now.

In the crunch of deadlines, both personal and professional, I've given up a few things I really enjoy like yoga and sleep. My back is aching and my eyes are puffy. Rusty lays at my feet sending me doggy telepathy requests for attention. I have to tune him out. Just let me get this book edited and maybe I'll squeeze in a walk.

All right - back to my edits. And yes, I'd like some cheese with  my whine! Otherwise, I'll forget lunch.

P.S. Going crazy, happily busy, but going crazy.