December's Long Night ~ Full Moon

To everyone a very happy Winter Solstice ... this is a photograph from my front porch very early this morning. I missed the lunar eclipse but this moon was still in the sky went I got up this morning.

So, a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice has not happened in almost 400 years and will not happen again until 2094. I am somehow sorry that I missed it ... but I couldn't do it, not in the middle of the night!

The full moon in December is know by a number of names ... the Long Night's Moon, the Cold Moon and even the Moon before Yule. All the names make sense to me but have different backgrounds ranging from Algonquin to Colonial to Pagan.

I truly believe that this is a beautiful time of the year but slowing down to really enjoy is another matter ... I wish you all a quiet, beautiful season filled with whatever is beautiful to you.

Very best wishes, Barbara

25 Years ago tomorrow - Arrow Air Flight 1285

When I was younger woman, I lived and worked in the community of Gander, Newfoundland.

Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the crash of Arrow Air Flight 1285 in that town of roughly 12,000 people. There were 248 American soldiers and 8 crew members on board and all perished ... the soldiers were from the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. The "Screaming Eagles" had been on a 6 month peace-keeping tour in the Sinai Dessert as part of a ten-nation force overseeing the 1979 Camp David Peace Accord. All were on their way home for Christmas, returning to their base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The photo above is of a painting that I completed of the crash site after the memorial was erected ... it is of the lake, where the aircraft came to rest and also of the statue that was placed on the site. The statue is of a soldier in casual dress with two small children, both holding olive branches symbolizing peace.

I spent a great deal of time at the crash site, sketching, photograghing and just being there ~ it is place that I am very familiar with. I was so very honoured that the local Masonic group created prints from my original and I believe that most of the families were sent one (if they so desired).

Many lives were changed that day and I think of those families very often and the small town that came together to offer support and receive the loved ones of those lost.

New Fibre Work

I am thinking to myself ... what have I been doing, and then I remember that Christmas is almost upon us. The handknits to finish, the packages to post and the unwrapping of those decorations that have been around forever but come back every year as old friends. There are stories to read, cards and cookies to make ... it never all gets done as one might envision but that is perfectly fine by me. I find it is the small things that make it special ~ the walks at night, the music and more time by the fireplace ... I think those are the things I cherish the most.

And of course, starting a new piece (which has no name or final goal yet) but will eventually have layers of sheers, some vintage fabric and perhaps the addition of watercolours. I am looking forward just working on this in which ever direction it might take me.

I wish you time to linger!