fullupwithfire | Solstice Night Blanket Fort Party

Welcome One and All!

Tonight, at least up in the northern hemisphere, is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. My family tradition is for whoever can make it to spend the night awake, holding a vigil for the return of the light and the rebirth of the Sun King. Tonight I offer an open space to anybody who'd like to join me, whether for the entire night or just a little while, to come join in the cuddle pile and await the dawn.

(And if your version of joining in is setting up two feet away and offering good vibes from afar, you're just as welcome.)

So come on in! We've got every kind of blanket you can think of, fuzzy or not, oversized or tiny, weighted or as thin as you can get. We've got stories and songs, crafts and games, dancing spaces, roaring fires, and whatever else you need to get through the dark. We've got sleeping spaces and quiet spaces and loud spaces alike. We've got cider on the stove and eggnog in the fridge and coffee on the counter, snacks of every kind and room to bring your own. We've got hugs and hearts and kind words to remind you that you're here, and we're glad that you're here, and the light will come back.

I'll throw up a couple spots for sharing on a theme here and there -- songs and stories and if anything else comes to mind -- and you should feel free to float your own. Make yourselves comfortable. Have a happy Solstice, everyone. ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

My mom's side of the family have always celebrated on Christmas Eve. My grandparents always hosted; my grandpa just loved the holiday and loved everybody being there. He handed out the presents from under the tree.

We didn't get presents until after all the dishes were done and leftovers put away from the big dinner. I was never so keen to help with chores as I was then. And I'm still drying dishes, almost 30 years later, because it was the job I was first given as the first thing I could be trusted with. And after presents, now everybody has to play games but when we were too little and had to go to bed, the adults played cards and yelled and laughed and pretended to get mad but it was all in fun. I like those memories more than I like having to play games now.

I get that. I have nothing against holidays with my family (well, sort of) but the memories are always sweeter than the reality, you know? For me, the marking of the holiday actually felt like something. Now it just kind of feels like another day in which I have to exist around people I might not want to be around.

Which is more depressing than I intended it to be.

WHat's the tastiest thing you've ver had around the holidays?

For me, the marking of the holiday actually felt like something. Now it just kind of feels like another day in which I have to exist around people I might not want to be around.

Yeah, exactly. I liked it being special when I was a kid and I would like it to still be again but it's hard when my family will never be whole again. It's hard when nothing distinct happens to distinguish one year from the next, and yet I'm grateful that I'm still able to do the same things I'd always done for Christmas: my grandpa's gone but my grandma still lives in that house and still hosts every Christmas Eve (albeit with her kids doing most of the work now she's not able to). I'm 37, and how many people that age can say they've done the same thing every Christmas and still (for all the complications) enjoy it, still don't want to be anywhere else that day? I feel lucky even as I complain about my family and I also feel insufficiently grateful too.

WHat's the tastiest thing you've ver had around the holidays?

My family make amazing Christmas candy. Lots of things dipped in chocolate, homemade fudge... My grandma even does (or did) homemade peanut butter cups -- never a lot because the says they're such hard work, but they're amazing. Still I think my favorite is that she always makes lefse at Christmas. She's of Norwegian ancestry and lefse was a normal food in Norway when her family left it but in Minnesota it seems to appear at Christmastime. I got to help her make it a couple times and I loved to see how the elaborate process happened. It's something I particularly look forward to every year: I was thinking about it on the plane over, the day before yesterday. And I had some for breakfast yesterday. :)

That does sound like a lovely memory, even if it's sad that some things don't quite live up to it.

Cards were always a part of holidays for us too, though usually Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve more than Christmas. It's probably going to have to be skipped this year, as our usual third party is my grandmother and she's likely not going to be up to it, but it's something I looked forward to a lot for a while there.

My mom's family love playing cards. Even if we just went to my grandparents for dinner or something, we'd probably end up playing cards. My grandpa's family had card parties as an excuse to get the relatives together.

Now we play Apples to Apples (a game Andrew and I introduced my parents to when they were visiting us) at Christmas so my grandma, who's even more blind then me now, can still join in even though she can't see normal cards. Well when she's not being too grumpy and sulky to join in. :)

Solstice Night Blanket Fort Party

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