The Arrival of Winter

Not only is today the first official day of winter, but it is also our first snowfall of the season here in southwest Colorado.  Normally, we would have some snow on the ground by now, and might have had several snowfalls throughout the previous 2 months.  Instead, we have had an unusually warm and dry fall.  Last night, a delightful group met at my house for the Winter Solstice fire ceremony, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.  It was fairly balmy and dry, with a light breeze to fan the flames of the fire.

Fast forward to this morning, when I awoke to several inches of snow on the ground. Right on time for the official start of winter. Even my outdoor cat, Mr. Snowflake was a bit confused, as it had been quite a while since he had experienced any bad weather.

Getting back to last night’s ceremony, we had a phenomenon occur that has only happened a handful of times in the last 14 years.  The evening started out overcast, with an even layer of clouds.  As the fire ceremony progressed, I noticed that the clouds directly above us were starting to thin so that some stars could be seen.  By the time we were finished, those clouds had disappeared completely, leaving a disc of starry sky right above our location.  It was very magical and a testament to the vibrational unity of our group. 

After the participants left to go home, I lingered a while by the still glowing embers, and watched as that magical disc of stars disappeared behind the gathering clouds.  And, voila!  Winter officially arrived overnight.