Thursday, December 22, 2005

Here Comes the Sun!

Thank you everyone for the wonderful Solstice wishes. My Bookman and I had a lovely day yesterday, even the dog got in on the celebrations. Godzilla is a Cocker Spaniel. The sun was out in the afternoon and the temperature was around 20 so we bundled up, put the snow booties on the dog and drove to the off leash dog park near our house. There was hardly anyone there which suited us all just fine since Godzilla doesn't really understand that he is a dog. So we trooped around the semi-wooded park in the sun and the snow. Godzilla was in heaven. Between running ahead of us and then running back to us to make sure we were coming, he put quite a bit of mileage on his paws. His humans got tired too since the snow was rather deep in some places. We all slept well last night! Our feast, we cook something different every year and it is always something we have never had before, was mostly yummy. The baked potato, apple and onion dish didn't taste as good as we imagined it would be when reading the recipe. The "Texas Tofu" (Texas because it had a lot of chili powder in it?), was delicious. Dessert was fabulous. Dessert is always chocolate something. This year is was chocolate espresso cake with espresso sauce. And now for the next night or two, it's leftovers! My Bookman and I exchange gifts, also known as books. I wish I could say these books are meant to get us through the remains of winter, but then I'd have to explain why there are so many books on the shelves we haven't read yet. Winter in Minnesota is long, but not that long! To the teetering stacks is added:

  • Hermit in Paris: Autobiographical Writings by Italo Calvino
  • Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life by Julia Briggs
  • A Short Story of Myth by Karen Armstrong, Weight by Jeanette Winterson and The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
  • Sex Wars by Marge Piercy
  • Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan
  • Isn't my Bookman wonderful? One book I got him I will undoubtedly read too because it looks so interesting: In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell. This book, which includes beautiful black and white drawings, is about the ways crows and humans interact and traces what the authors call a "cultural co-evolution." My parents, who celebrate Christmas, not Solstice, play along with us and send us Solstice presents. Though, in a vain attempt to make us at least appear respectable, they sent us some new clothes. My sister, however, who thinks that Solstice is just a cheater's way to open Christmas presents early, understands about books because she has the bug too. And from her I received a gift card to Barnes and Noble. Bless her! While presents are always nice, the best part of the day was traipsing through the snow at the dog park with my Bookman and Godzilla. The cold air was clean and clear and the sun sparkling on the snow was dazzling. And even though the coldest part of winter is yet to come, the days will be getting longer and sunnier. We'll bear the cold knowing spring is on the way. And we will snuggle up with each other and our books and know that we are truly blessed.