The shortest day...

Blessing for the Longest Night


All throughout these months
as the shadows
have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.
It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory
by touch
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.
So believe me
when I tell you
this blessing will
reach you
even if you
have not light enough
to read it;
it will find you
even though you cannot
see it coming.
You will know
the moment of its
arriving
by your release
of the breath
you have held
so long;
a loosening
of the clenching
in your hands,
of the clutch
around your heart;
a thinning
of the darkness
that had drawn itself
around you.
This blessing
does not mean
to take the night away
but it knows
its hidden roads,
knows the resting spots
along the path,
knows what it means
to travel
in the company
of a friend.
So when
this blessing comes,
take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road
you cannot see.
This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn.

—Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow


© Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com

 
I'm sitting here with two iMacs. One deleting me as the user so it can be gifted to Sarah and David. Our Mac magician says it still has some life left in it before it needs a new drive. Our new iMac with the 5K resolution screen is now synching with the iCloud backup service Backblaze. My gazilion photos are also synching with iCloud, both  could take some time, some days actually. If you live in the Greater Boston area and need help with a Mac, I highly recommend Call Andy, their tech Eric is great and a fast friend of Raspberry's now. My laptop is humming along nicely again too, but I can't wait to use the new iMac and the enhancements to the photo program.

For the Record,
This day came in sunny and cold, Happy Winter Solstice.

All hands disgusted with everything in Washington.