It's a lovely thing to see the Sun, with the fast approach of Winter. I am not a sun worshiper, in the sense of being a person who sits in the sun day after day, soaking up the rays. I do however love to see the brightness, and light it brings everyday, especially when the days are short with too much darkness for my liking.
One of the reasons I look forward to Christmas is knowing the Winter Solstice is just around the corner, and with the approaching days of increasing light. There are good and beautiful things I greatly love about the North and the South, the Sun and the Moon, the dark and the light. You can't have one without the other.
In the 80s I moved to the North West Territories, where I lived in Yellowknife and Fort Smith for three years. It was wonderful having all that light until midnight, and I felt short changed when I returned to Nova Scotia, with 9:00 o'clock sunsets in the Summer.
More sunlight means folks generally have a sunnier disposition, or a least you don't have to work so hard at always keeping on the sunny side of life. Oh don't get me wrong, Winter was brutally cold and dark in the NWT.
The first year I arrived on April 28th, the day before the ice bridge closed. I thought I was going to end up on the bottom of the MacKenzie River, because the ice was melting! I was at least somewhat acclimatized, but I wasn't prepared for snow on my birthday June 4th, and I wondered what was I thinking moving from Nova Scotia to the 'Great White North, The Land of The Midnight Sun!'
When I returned to the Maritimes, sometimes I would tell stories to people about how it was so cold my braids would freeze, break right off, and fall on the ground, and a few other tales people would believe about the frigid temperatures. The favourite story I would tell, was about how some Northerners didn't have ears because of frost bite, their ears fell off, and as a result they couldn't wear glasses.
I'm grateful to still have my ears and today I was happy to see I had drawn the Major Arcana card, The Sun. This card speaks of expanding horizons along with creative endeavours to follow. Oh happy day!
If we can't find the Sun outside of ourselves we have to find it within, and let it shine.
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| Northern Boys - Catherine Meyers |
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