It'll be remarkably like a Christmas celebration for me, what with the baking and Christmas tree and travelling to visit the family and having friends in and all. The Solstice certainly gives me a moment of gratitude - this dark time will not last forever - but the best celebration of the season for me will be New Year's Eve, which we always spend with our very dearest friends in Cape Breton. There will be feasting and drinking and laughing and singing, hordes of neighbours wandering in and out of the snow, visiting young folk home from university or the oil patch or Trawna, kids falling asleep in corners, dogs and cats underfoot... and the practically ancient pet chicken, feasting, rather horribly, on leftover turkey.

And I wish all of you the very best of the season, however and whyever you celebrate it.