Litha (Summer Solstice): '...summer solstice, or midsummer, is a time to spread warmth and enjoy the sun's energy. The sun is at its highest point in the sky. Everywhere you look nature shows her bounty; praise the opulence and abundance available to you for the asking. This is a day to celebrate your gifts of healing, whether they are intuitive or use plants. Make peace with the impermanence of life and changing relationships, knowing that you are always guided and watched over. Bloom where you are planted. Respect male energy, honor your light, hug yourself. You are one with the infinite sun...' 'On this Sabbat light and life are at their most abundant. Many Ancient monuments are aligned with the Sun at this point in the Wheel of the Year, the most famous being Stonehenge in England, though there are many more all over the world.' - Another interesting, but not surprising, fact is that once again, the Christian Saint Jean Baptiste day (which is a day highly celebrated in Quebec as their 'national' holiday) was the Church's method of claiming the Pagan holy day of 'Old Litha', which occurred on June 25th.

In some ways, I do wish that it summer solstice didn't have to mark the point at which the days begin to get shorter again. Unlike in Saskatchewan, where the sun sets at 10:00 and rises again sometime before 5:00 (though the first streaks of colour appeared in the sky at 2:30 or so on the night we graduated high school...), here in Quebec/Ontario, it sets at about 9:30 and, because of all the trees and hills and buildings, it really hits twilight at about 8:30. So it doesn't take long to wind back down to our 5:00 darkness like in the winter. I'm sure I won't mind it when we actually get to Fall (because it's such a beautiful season, I can forgive it), but right now I'm not ready to think about winter coming back, not when we just got rid of it!

One thing that I did embrace today, by chance, was the idea of us moving. Up until now it has been something that rapidly went from daring (if not a little terrifying) to a tabu subject that I almost felt bad to speak about, incase I should accidentally say something negative that would burst the fragile bubble that was surrounding us. I have since chatted with a few good friends, who are doing similarly daring moves, for different reasons, and with different risks, (and in some cases, quite a different distance), but it seems to me that we've embarked on a potentially rewarding journey. Like the excerpt above says, you have to embrace the impermanence of life - to quote Jewel 'everything is temporary, if you give it enough time' and that is so true (especially in my life). So while I am still falling in love my current home (I adore my back yard), there are other reasons why moving on to a new place and making it special is a good, healthy thing for us to do. At the same time, (and along those same lines), where it suggests us to bloom where we are planted, this is another lesson that is difficult for me to take sometimes - I have always looked beyond where I'm standing, eager to see what waits around the corner, dreaming of the future instead of living in the present. Because of that (and possibly due to my up-bringing as an ever-moving army brat), I have found it very difficult to really say who I am at any one time, and feel happy in any one situation. I always feel like I'm 'posing' as someone else, in some made-up life that I've designed for myself. I need to work on blooming where I've planted myself, relaxing a bit and enjoying life as it comes... It must be rewarding, or it wouldn't be so damn hard to do. :)

On an unrelated note, another thing that Luc and I have decided to seriously try is to eat more fresh, chemical free foods. There is a farmer's market every weekend at the marina in Aylmer, where we'll be living. It's sort of an underground arrangement, where you meet the farmers there and they bring their harvests and, for, I believe $25/week, they supply you with a TONNE of fresh veggies, grown right here around us - no pesticides or crazy x-continent trips (like all our tasteless fruits and veggies at the store right now). We want to make chutneys and stews and chillis and jams, etc. I don't think we'll have time for that this summer, but you never know, and we will have a new deep freezer hopefully as well, to store it all in. I guess my family should be forewarned that this probably means they'll be getting a cute little package of preserves for xmas this year... ;) (Don't worry, I'm not that organized, you're all safe for now)...

xo