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Welcome, Winter.

Today is winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The first day of winter.
It marks the beginning of the worst time of year for me: the sun is hiding, it's cold, and ... yeah, I think that's sufficient.

I've often wished I could have a huge castle, with a great hall and a massive hearth large enough to burn a yule log this time of year. Celebrate the longest night the way it was always intended to be. I'm not much on holidays, but this one isn't about a specific religion or set of beliefs -- solstice is just the rhythms of nature, of the planet, the inevitability of the seasons. A reminder that all things have their time, this too shall pass, and without the bleak death of winter, we'd have little appreciation for the budding new life of spring.

Balance. Change rarely happens swiftly, but instead in small increments over time.

And if I want to escape the snow, I really should start planning to relocate. To Bora Bora, or something.

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