Well happy solstice! The sun is ridiculously bright and the sky is ridiculously blue here in Antigua, which is a wonderful way to spend what is, in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year. Starting tomorrow, each day will get a little big longer. Not that it makes that much of a difference here. We are closer to the equator, so there will be much more sunlight here today than there will be in NY. And of course much much more than there will be in Alaska and Helsinki and whatnot. But it is comforting for me to know that when we return to NY, each day will be a tiny bit longer than the last. I hate the lack of sunlight. And I am delighted to welcome its return.
For those of you out there who don’t know, the whole reason for decorating a Christmas tree is to honor the evergreen on the shortest day of the year, because the evergreen does not die when all the other plants die. By putting lights on the green tree on the shortest day of the year, we are symbolizing our desire for the light to return, and asking the evergreen to use its power of life to help the return of the light. The Catholic church was brilliant at taking traditions of the native populations (in this case, Northern Europeans) and calling them Christian traditions. That is why, even here in Guatemala, we see the evergreens as symbols of this season.
But enough on theology and history! LOL.
I like traditions and ceremonies and rituals. One of my personal traditions is to dine well in celebration of an important event. And here is a photo of Liana and I holding up her visa on the day she received it. On the completely different end of the tradition/ritual scale, here is a photo of a posada (a Latin American Christmas tradition that doesn't seem to have parallels in other parts of the Christian world, probably borrowed from some indigenous traditions) that went past our apartment last night.
For those of you out there who don’t know, the whole reason for decorating a Christmas tree is to honor the evergreen on the shortest day of the year, because the evergreen does not die when all the other plants die. By putting lights on the green tree on the shortest day of the year, we are symbolizing our desire for the light to return, and asking the evergreen to use its power of life to help the return of the light. The Catholic church was brilliant at taking traditions of the native populations (in this case, Northern Europeans) and calling them Christian traditions. That is why, even here in Guatemala, we see the evergreens as symbols of this season.
But enough on theology and history! LOL.
I like traditions and ceremonies and rituals. One of my personal traditions is to dine well in celebration of an important event. And here is a photo of Liana and I holding up her visa on the day she received it. On the completely different end of the tradition/ritual scale, here is a photo of a posada (a Latin American Christmas tradition that doesn't seem to have parallels in other parts of the Christian world, probably borrowed from some indigenous traditions) that went past our apartment last night.
All around, life is good.
