We have stopped our quarterly celebration of the changing seasons for a bit. In 2009 we had one, at the winter solstice and perhaps there will be one again this year at the same seasonal change point. We began these get togethers on the banks of the Hudson about 15 years ago. There we were, 6 or 8 of us, huddled in the early morning mist (5 am or so, as I

recall) to give some sense of spirit and community to a time of change I was always drawn to. We brought our pot luck contribution, our words of respect and awe for what was happening to the earth and the pagan fire to light and heat our thoughts and actions. The next few years there at Nutten Hook were good and the thing grew organically, not huge, just good. We left our caretake on the river and moved to a rented farmhouse where the gatherings continued, morphed and uncertain, as our plans for the future were. Then our magic solar home rose from the clay soils of Glen and Balance Point Homestead came to be. The first solstice gathering here (winter, 2002) drew over 80 friends to see what had been wrought on the plains of the Helderberg escarpment. The next get togethers were unrivaled for the quality of food and conversation that went on thru the day and into the nite. Many friendships were kindled and honed and it was good to have a holiday of our own that had a basis in living sustainably, locally, simply, together and not emanating from war and violence, as the great majority of festives do.

The Quaker tradition has a tenet of laying aside things that have reached a natural end or change point and that is what we have done with the solstice gatherings. It was always my hope that others would pick it up and move it from place to place. Our efforts to motivate that change were frustrated somewhat by the grounding place Balance Point afforded and we see that movement has been exacerbated by our stepping aside.

There are  new venues emerging and I will post them on my blog as we become aware of them.Hopefully, you will join us at one of these and our awareness of natural change reflected in the changing seasons will be enhanced.