Weekword

I picked this week's word, MIDWINTER.

Midwinter in the northern hemisphere was on December 21st. I used to get a little disappointed afterwards, knowing that the nights would get shorter and shorter and then the clocks would change; it marks more of a new year for me than actual New Year, in some ways. Now I'm a little older, though, I find that I love all the season changes to some degree and this one is no different.

Midwinter makes me think of the carol, of a perfume that smells like chilly white flowers, of frosted plums, of The Darkling Thrush by Hardy, and of a still, frozen and silent night.

Being a fan of Terry Pratchett, I have both read and seen the Hogfather, in which the midwinter festivals of Discworld are revealed. The legend says that if the Hogfather isn't hunted to his death on midwinter's eve, the sun won't rise the next day. Being Pratchett, this legend is undoubtedly based on some ancient Pagan belief and I find it quite fascinating. I wonder if our ancestors busied themselves at their stone circles on the shortest day of the year with sacrifices and rituals aimed at ensuring the sun would return to the sky for the crops the following year. They must have been grateful to survive to the halfway point of winter, knowing that they only had to hold out a bit longer before things started to come back to life.

Here's what I did on midwinter this year:



Christmas dinner for my ski trip UNSC buddies. I was going to take some ethereal snowy pictures but it's become compacted and unpleasant out there now so you just get pictures of me, instead. Merry Christmas!

Here are the other participants this week:
Peggy (with a great reindeer ornament)
Joye and Joyeful Art (with a very beautiful wintery picture)
Christine at Silver Linings 4 Me (who is very busy baking, yum!)
Domestic Scribbles (with a delicious-sounding soup recipe)

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'm tagging Christine to pick the next Weekword, so keep an eye out for her post next week some time.



Champagne Afternoon Tea FTW.