THE I-JUST-THOUGHT-THIS-WAS-INTERESTING DEPT
The winter solstice is coming; the longest night of the year.  And it can be kind of neat, in a way; even though we often are of two minds about it.  Check out this article, which talks about our conflicted feelings about the solstice, the views of it throughout history, and...what one family does today to celebrate it:
"Maybe, deep inside, it's that we're all still afraid of the dark. Or drawn to it.

Either way, as long as we've been two-legged upright, and wise enough to wield a light-spitting wand (be it torch or battery-fueled flashlight), we've tiptoed toward the longest night, the winter solstice, with an odd mix of awe and wary eye over the shoulder.

Back in pagan Scandinavia, the Nordic merrymakers lit up Juul logs, slugged back mead, tended fires all night long, in hopes that their flaming fallen tree limbs would play backup to the barely working sun, or at least coax it through its feeble hours till solar reinforcements could get it up and blazing. Romans got downright riotous, decking halls with rosemary and laurel, burning lamps through the night, carrying on crazily, in hopes of warding off the spirits of darkness. And the Incas went so far as to try to tie the sun to a hitching post, a great stone column, to keep it from escaping altogether.

But solstice science is plain-angled geometry: The winter solstice comes at the very moment the North Pole is tilted farthest from the sun. The shadow cast is never longer. Nor, the night.

We say, bring on the night. Wrap yourself in the quietude it offers, a counterpoint to December's metastasizing madness. For starters, turn off all things electric, writes Heather Fontenot, co-editor of Rhythm of the Home, an online magazine that honors seasonality and "slow family living." Her winter solstice ritual is lovely.

Quiet and dark are invited in the day before the solstice (this year, the actual astronomical moment will occur at 11:30 p.m. CST Dec. 21). Candles are lit, a fire is kindled, winter lanterns line the walk.

It's a day to coddle the winter critters, filling orange halves with peanut butter and birdseed, stuffing pine cones with the same. An afternoon's walk is punctuated with a trail of birdseed sprinkled from winter-coat pockets. Supper by the fire is a simple soup and bread. Stories are read by firelight. Children are tucked in bed, while grown-ups keep vigil through the night.

Just before dawn, Fontenot wakes her children, who find sunshine bags beside their beds. The sacks, hand-sewn or not, are stuffed with oranges, nuts and golden-colored treasures. Everyone slips on a golden crown, and all tiptoe out into the dark for a predawn stroll, to watch the great orb rise once again."

Meanwhile, on a more somber note...
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT BULLYING
The state of Michigan recently passed an anti-bullying law.  As those of us with Moebius or other physical differences know, bullying is all too real, and the effects of it can be devastating.  It's good Michigan passed this law.  But for some, of course, it came too late:
"

It's been almost 10 years since Kevin Epling of East Lansing began his mission for an anti-bullying law to be passed in Michigan.

Ten years since his son Matt, 14, was pulled off his bike by two upperclassmen from East Lansing High School, pelted with eggs and then doused in syrup. Days later, Matt took his own life.

It's only been 10 months since Taylor Smith of Williamston, a pretty, red-haired 15-year-old who was overwhelmed by taunts of "ginger," "slut" and "worthless" went home and shot herself.

For both kids, the anti-bullying legislation, called "Matt's Safe School Law" signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday, was too late.

And because Michigan dragged its heels long enough to earn the distinction of being one of the last three states to not adopt anti-bullying legislation, it was also too late for 10 kids in Michigan schools whose suicides are directly attributable to bullying in the last decade, according to Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing.

Ten kids too young to comprehend that suicide is forever and yet so humiliated and degraded they felt forever damaged.

And those are just the ones we know about."

Let's all continue to work to raise awareness about this issue...

"Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed;
there's so little competition." -Elbert Hubbard