Celebrating the Winter Solstice
The Solstice either was yesterday or is today, depending on where you live and how you figure it. We decided to celebrate last night, at the end of the shortest day.
I spent some wonderful alone time yesterday morning making jam from persimmons that my friend G gave to me. They were so ripe and delicious, and made amazing cookies too a few days ago. The boys were in school and I had the house to myself.
I also got to have lunch out with my dear friend, NoNo, which was wonderful. As usual, I dreamed up a little Solstice celebration for our family at the last minute.
Best laid plans of mice and mommies. I was going to have the kids help me make this giant sun cookie for dessert, but I ended up doing it alone. While my children were outside enjoying the last hour of sunshine, they came across a cute little dog wandering on his own at the local school. None of the nearby people claimed him, and when my children walked home, he followed.
He is a handsome fellow.
Frankly, everyone is perfectly smitten with this dog. He seems young and spry, but doesn’t nip or crew or mouth. He is well behaved. I sent Ian and the boys right out to see if they could find the owners, but they came home without having any luck. This is why I made the sun cookie alone. (The recipe is from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe here, and I used Reese’s peanut butter chips and Reese’s pieces candies to mosaic a face. It came out perfectly.)
See the star? Neat, huh? Ian made red beans and rice for dinner and we had sunshiny oranges and sun-shaped squash with our salad. We ate by candlelight on the floor by the fire.
After dinner, Ian took the dog to the local vet to see if there was a microchip that would tell us where he belongs. No chip. Today we put up flyers around the area and have talked to a bunch of our neighbors. So far, we haven’t found his home. This little dog is so nice, I’m sure someone somewhere is missing him. In the meantime, the boys and Ian have fallen in love with him. It feels like everyone is hoping we will keep this dog. Lucas wants to name him Solstice, which is a big name for a little dog. And yes, I am allergic to him.
December 23, 2011 at 10:10 am
Sara – For once in a whole year I’ve been following your posts, and so enjoying this glimpse into your family life (it enriches my life seeing you all!) this is the one entry I can’t resist saying: I really really hope you keep this dog! He looks and sounds like a real treasure, and whoever had him and didn’t even put a collar or chip on him was not taking care enough in case he got lost (which they do!) And Solstice is a perfect name for him! It really seems to me that this was meant to be… I will be eagerly watching to see what happens with him!
January 2, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Hi Janice! Thanks for your lovely comment. I do admit we love the dog and everyone is hoping he will be ours. I hope that my allergies will tolerate him. We are taking good care of him in the meantime and he is thriving. Thank you for reading, and Happy New Year!