Spokane Solstice

                           ❄️Winter ‘22 — coldest in over a decade❄️

                                          Ice crystals form over cabin windows ❄️

 

Solstice  dawned bright and shining. 

The basalt columns look like frosted cupcakes.

Lotus’s footprints en route to mailbox with kitty..

                                                       This dry powdery snow does pile up quickly.❄️

                                                      The route from cabin down Lewis

  Temps have been below 0. Windchill takes that down further. But in the mid day sun ☀️ it’s pretty nice.

…And back to cabin for some freshly baked Gingerbread 😋 Yum.

Wild Men and Women of Winter

                                                              Winter gone WILD!   ❄️❄️❄️

                                           The Wild Men of Europe ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

                        It’s a wild white wonderland ❄️ In wintertime 

                                 Who knows who, or what you might meet!

                          Indeed, ungrateful urchins shall soon find themselves stuffed within the Krampus Sack!

…And perhaps taken to Iceland, there to meet the fanged justice of the terrible Yule Cat!

       

Men and women gone wild…this time of year all over the land, something about the change of seasons, of the Solstice, light and dark, a liminal time betwixt and between…man and beast, or thing….❄️❄️❄️

But we need not venture far, to find tales of The Wild and men who become so…in Pennsylvania, and into the hill country, as far north as Nova Scotia, you will hear whispers of The Belsnickle…..

Sometimes referred to as Peltschnickle, as he is sometimes clad in furs or animal pelts.

He would tap on the windows and doors with sticks before entering. Once inside the house, he would ask whether or not the children had been good that year.

If the children had been naughty, he would threaten to hit them with the switches — or sticks — that he carried with him. But for the good kids, they could expect some small treats like nuts, fruits or candies.

To hear the tale told by famous folklorist Timothy Renner, click on link.

https://www.strangefamiliars.com/home/belsnickel-the-christmas-wild-man

Santa Lucia, her head aflame in the night!

And we also have Italy to thank for Belfana, the Christmas Witch!

Christmas before Christ: A beauteous and fascinating tale of how folk celebrated Yule and the Solstice.

Horns are popular with a wild magical childe.

Winter Wonderland

                                     Overnight a frosty world     

  

                                                                                       Tree Bones

                                                  Jack Frosting

            Temps today over freezing! Darned near balmy…possible rain forecast as well.                            

(

When Winter first begins to bite

and stones crack in the frosty night

when pools are black and trees are bare

'tis evil in the wild to fare...

J.R.R.Tolkien

                                       Yuletide Blessing from Our Lady of the Cold Shoulders

The Tomten has got his goat and it's hot cocoa time….

                         True Tale of the Norwegian Tunkall — Strange Familiars

                                  https://www.strangefamiliars.com/home/the-tunkall

Timothy interviews Ingrid about her encounters with the gnome-like Tunkall spirits in Norway. Ingrid also discusses ghosts, will-o-the-wisps, and other entities from Norwegian folklore.

I 

Wilde, wild winter ❄️ ❄️❄️

Green Man in holly and ivy

                                            Lotus’s house

                   Lotus’s 🦶 bare snowy feet ❄️❄️❄️ Among bird and cat tracks

                                                Wild men and women of ❄️ Winter ❄️ 

                   Of course, no holiday is complete without a bit of family fun…Dropkick Murphys style.

                                                         The Season’s Upon Us