The winter solstice arrives tonight. The shortest day of the year doesn't seem so short to me. Where I grew up (much further north) it was pitch black by 4:30 on a winter's night. Here in the effete south there's still a tangerine glow behind the hills when I walk out of work at 5:30. You want truly short nights, you ought to head to Iceland. Four hours of daylight total right now. I laugh at anyone who complains to me about the short days around here. I like the dark, always have. Rain and snow, too. Stormy weather, that's for me, and soft, diffuse light. Sunshine's okay once in a while. In fact, I'm going to Palm Desert next month, and Mexico the month after that to get a dose of heat and desert brightness. Mostly, though, I prefer the half-light of the world.
Six new Christmas cards today, including a magnificent piece from Kash of Scoop in a handmade envelope. The woman doesn't just pop down to the local shop for a box of cards, oh no. Neither does my best friend Denise (and I really must set up one of those handy reference guides one of these days). Denise, aka PhotoSensitive, shoots her own photos every year, and pastes them onto card stock, then designs clever greetings, leaving the rest of us feeling awed, envious, and just a bit slack. I rubber stamp my cards, so I'm not as slack as all that.
This just in: Pooks promises to send her card to me even though she knows it won't get here on time, having been shamed by my harsh treatment of the card slackers! Martin Cale sends an e-card! Doug Faunt requests my address, despite having actually been here! Lady Radixa, who is not, I swear, a transvetite or a drag queen but a Toronto set designer and consultant, is going to send me a card as well! The crowd goes wild!
Still keeping the entries short. My wrists no longer ache, so my plan is working. Another two weeks and I should be ready to go back to my usual 500 words four days a week. Thanks for bearing with me.
