Embrace the Winter Solstice: A Time for Reflection, Celebration, and Renewal

[Integral]

Take time to reflect on this cold dark shortest winter day, on the labors of the past year, now complete. Anticipate the lengthening days and spring soon to arrive. Gather with your family in the warmth and light of your homes and celebrate the Solstice!


Happy Winter Solstice to one and all!

 

[dextercioby]

And for those of you in the southern hemisphere the text should be:

Take time to reflect on this hot sunny longest summer day, on the labors of the past year, now complete. Anticipate the shortening days and autumn soon to arrive. Gather with your family in the warmth and light of your homes and celebrate the Solstice!


Happy Summer Solstice to one and all!

Integral.

Quoted by Daniel.

PS.Sorry,mate,i couldn't help it...

 

[Smurf]

and its cloudy too! bah!

 

[Gokul43201]

And cold...have I complained about outlawing that ?

 

[Moonbear]

And cold...have I complained about outlawing that ?

And they're predicting ice/snow! I'm seriously worried about getting myself to the airport tomorrow (I'm less worried about travel once I'm at the airport; I'll keep a complete change of clothes in my carry-on and have an extra day or two to get where I need to be in time for Christmas, I just don't want to sit in traffic on icy roads early in the morning!).

Happy Solstice to you too!

 

[Gokul43201]

I've got a flight to catch on Thursday, and the forecast is no better then.

Perhaps I should stop saying mean things to the God of Weather. Now who would that be...Al Roker ?

 

[Gokul43201]

Just ain't PC to use that Chris-watchamacallit word, eh ?

 

[Doc Al]

Happy Winter Solstice to one and all!

Right back at ya!

 

[Artman]

Take time to reflect on this cold dark shortest winter day, on the labors of the past year, now complete. Anticipate the lengthening days and spring soon to arrive. Gather with your family in the warmth and light of your homes and celebrate the Solstice!


Happy Winter Solstice to one and all!

Peace, joy and reflection to you as well.

 

[juju]

Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Xmas, Happy New year and a wish for a good holiday season to all.

juju

 

[Moonbear]

Just ain't PC to use that Chris-watchamacallit word, eh ?

Apparently someone...public official or gov't worker or something like that in NYC (I heard the story 3rd hand or so) got reprimanded/sued/fired (or something like that) for making the [shudder] horrible mistake of calling their holiday party a "Christmas party!"

Gokul, good luck getting out on Thursday...the snow will have actually accumulated by then! Though, I think ice is worse than snow for airports. Too bad you're probably flying out of Columbus and I'm flying out of Cincinnati; if the storm gets bad, we could have had a PF mini-gathering at the airport bar! Considering I don't have much in the way of food in my house having planned to be away for about 10 days, it will be better to be stuck at the airport than home. I'm only flying into dinky Atlantic City airport, at least it isn't a busy destination where they have to go to great lengths to coordinate delayed flights departing and arriving on both ends. There are only about 6 or 9 gates at ACY. I guess worst comes to worse, they reroute me to Philly or Newark and I hop a train to get the rest of the way.

 

[Integral]

And for those of you in the southern hemisphere the text should be:




Integral.

Quoted by Daniel.

PS.Sorry,mate,i couldn't help it...

I have to admit that I considered considering those in the southern hemisphere who are enjoying the summer solstice... My apologies to any and all that find the weather to nice and the days to long. I will think of you next June!

 

[Integral]

Just ain't PC to use that Chris-watchamacallit word, eh ?

For me to say anything else would be pure hypocrisy. Besides that, this IS the winter solstice. In ancient and more innocent times, this would be the time for feasting around a bonfire, enjoying the fruits of the fall harvest and resting for the spring planting to come.


Merry Christmas to all, and CELEBRATE THE SOLSTICE the physical reason for the season.

 

[Kerrie]

Happy Solstice everyone. Definitely looking forward to the light of day again.

 

[BoulderHead]

Have not a worry, for the dying Sun shall be born again, wearing a corona, after three days… Halleluiah, Horus has risen (on the horus-risen or, horizon).


Happy [fill in the blank] Holidays !

 

[Moonbear]

I hate winter! Well, folks, I'm sitting here hanging out at the airport. My morning flight was cancelled, the next available is 3 pm. Do I believe them that the weather is the reason for the cancellation? NO. I think it's a convenient excuse so they don't have to compensate me for the cancellation. There are plenty of other flights taking off this morning, and I'm not heading to a destination that has bad weather.

Gokul...good luck getting out tomorrow! With the holidays and security lines plus driving time, I find it is useless to call ahead...they never know the flight status before I have to leave my house. Anyway, depending on whether I can keep finding outlets to recharge my laptop batteries, I'll be on and off until my flight. But I think I need to find a different location. I'm hanging out in the airport bar because this early there are plenty of tables, but I think they have air conditioning on in here! BRRRRRRRR!

 

[BobG]

What's up with Ohio? First the election, now the weather. Akron has bad weather rest of the week (my daughter flies out Friday morning).

Colorado Springs even has snow. We usually get protected by the mountains and the ridge that runs around the northern rim of the city, but once in a while you get an Alburqurque low comes in from the Southeast. Snow for Christmas, what a concept.

 

[Gokul43201]

Thanks for the warning MoonBear. How early do you reckon I should get to Airpt ?

God, I hate this !

 

[Moonbear]

What's up with Ohio? First the election, now the weather. Akron has bad weather rest of the week (my daughter flies out Friday morning).

I sure as heck don't know! This is awfully early in the year for snow at all here, let alone this much! The airport is definitely showing all the usual signs of stranded holiday travelers...one person has already resorted to taking a nap in the middle of the floor. I am so thankful they've finally installed wireless here! One of my friends has an afternoon flight scheduled today, so I just left her a phone message in the hopes she is somewhere in the airport and wants to hang out. Ran into another friend earlier, but of course they were on time because they're headed to S. Dakota...the weather we have here is probably a joke to them. They have a little play area here for the kids, and it's starting to look like a daycare center!

 

[Moonbear]

Thanks for the warning MoonBear. How early do you reckon I should get to Airpt ?

God, I hate this !

I really couldn't tell you. I got here really early, and it didn't help one bit since my flight was cancelled. Just pack a full change of clothes and plenty of stuff in your carry-on to keep yourself entertained! I actually have a second bag I was going to check (darn fat sweaters wouldn't all fit in my usual suitcase...probably because the largest suitcase I own is a carry-on sized roll-away; I rarely need to check anything), and decided I'll do it as a gate claim so I can keep it with me...just in case I can't get to my checked luggage and need to spend an extra night near the airport (I don't think I'm going to get all the way home from here at this point if I don't fly out tonight).

My friend just arrived a few minutes ago, so at least I'm not here by myself now. She's just off getting some food and checking the boards for her flight info. Her mom is connecting from Akron, and apparently that flight is on time so far...that is if it has even taken off yet.

The planes that are here are departing reasonably on time, there's just a line for de-icing, but the incoming flights aren't all getting here, so the problem is lack of planes! It's hard to go anywhere if there isn't a plane here to take me.

What's really pissing me off is I don't think they are getting the word out to the news stations so people can be forewarned! Even once I was here and already knew my flight and several others were cancelled, I overheard an airport official on his cell phone giving what sounded like a statement to a reporter (you can just tell by the way he was talking). He was saying that everything was fine, the airport has never needed to close since 1980-something, they have all this expensive equipment out keeping the runways clear, etc., making it all sound way better than it really is! Just make sure whoever is supposed to pick you up at your destination knows your flight number to check on your arrival time before bothering to head to the airport for you.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Airports suck!

Sorry folks. Hang in there Moonbear!

Btw, did anyone make the party at Stonehenge?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Where's Tribdog? He should be keeping you entertained.

 

[Tsu]

Ivan -
Stonehenge?
She left Trib with a dog sitter!
Are you living on another planet again??

 

[Moonbear]

tribdog is snuggly and warm in AZ! I think about 70% of today's flights have been canceled and they are rebooking people for tomorrow. My most recent booking (now I'm going to Philly...and every 15 or 30 min they are delaying the flight another 15 or 30 min). If that gets cancelled, maybe I'll see if I can find a flight likely to leave for a warmer destination and hang out by that airport for the night. At least with computers and cell phones, it's easy to keep in touch with everyone while I'm sitting here. I can't imagine if I was spending my day by a bank of payphones waiting to call people to let them know my most recent flight booked. I don't think Gokul is getting out tomorrow either.

(Gokul...your PM inbox is full...don't trust the online flight status info. My flight is still listed as on schedule and hour after its scheduled departure time!...well, I suppose it's on A schedule, but what schedule, I don't know yet. If you have a connection through CVG, let me know, I might still be here tomorrow. )

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Ivan -
Stonehenge?

Sure, doesn't everyone know about the modern Druid celebration of the solstices, at Stonehenge? I think there is a winter celebration...hmmm...need to check my calendar.

She left Trib with a dog sitter!

Someone needs to let him out.

Here boy!

Are you living on another planet again??

Yes.

 

[Moonbear]

Just letting you all know I finally made it out of Ohio! Ended up going to Philly instead of ACY, and felt like I had just hit the lottery when they finally announced the plane was boarding and not cancelled! Then we pushed away from the gate, taxied a few feet, and the pilot announced one of the onboard computers just went kerplooey (not exactly the words he used). So we were pretty certain our last hope of getting out today was quickly vanishing. Fortunately, it turned out to be something really easy (we were joking around, asking if they tried rebooting)...they just had to swap out something for a new one, and we were on our merry way...right to the line for de-icing. I fell asleep sometime during the de-icing, but it took about an hour! Apparently, after sitting, then moving and warming up, then sitting again during the repairs, an unusually thick layer of ice had formed on the plane and it was taking a lot of effort to remove. It was good to hear that Delta's policy is they don't take off until the plane is completely clean of ice. And I learned that the de-icer is 50% glycol and warmed to 150 degrees...at least the orange stuff they spray all over the plane. They didn't tell us what was in the green stuff that goes on at the end on the wings and tail fins. I think the pilot was as bored as we were to be telling us so much detail about the de-icer. We finally took off a little after 5 pm, shortly AFTER my sister called and was told the plane would be landing at 5 pm. She was worried she'd get to Philly and I'd have already caught the train because I wasn't answering my cell phone. My checked luggage is still somewhere other than with me, but I was expecting that and just need to find out if the last flight of the night came into ACY (I'm not counting on it). If it did, I'll have luggage in the morning, otherwise I'm not really sure when I'll get it. Good thing I know who I can borrow lots of socks from.

Just checked...good thing I didn't stick around to wait for that 9 pm flight. It was canceled too. I guess I won't have my luggage first thing in the morning.

 

[Dayle Record]

I want you to know, that each Solstice, I have a large gathering. I build a bonfire in my back yard, we eat and celebrate. Neighbors and friends, and my daughter's friends come. We write on pieces of paper, the things that we want to end in the coming year, or attributes we want to change in the coming year. Then we burn them in the fire one by one. I pass around a bowl of cloves, and people throw them on the fire to take their prayers up for the positive things they want to have happen in the year to come. Regardless of how cold it is, it is great to sit around the fire, while it burns up into the night sky, and muse and be relieved that the light will grow longer each day. Happy solstice to you all.

 

[Integral]

I want you to know, that each Solstice, I have a large gathering. I build a bonfire in my back yard, we eat and celebrate. Neighbors and friends, and my daughter's friends come. We write on pieces of paper, the things that we want to end in the coming year, or attributes we want to change in the coming year. Then we burn them in the fire one by one. I pass around a bowl of cloves, and people throw them on the fire to take their prayers up for the positive things they want to have happen in the year to come. Regardless of how cold it is, it is great to sit around the fire, while it burns up into the night sky, and muse and be relieved that the light will grow longer each day. Happy solstice to you all.

Wow! I like that!