Let’s toast with mulled cider to the curtailed day
Reflection as new beginnings make way
Warmth beside yule logs that burn and smolder
An evergreen wreath lines the doorway
The sun’s lifeforce secedes and the air grows colder
Luminaries lit, candles burn in their holders
The glow is low, elongated shadows are seen
Appearing to stand still in the eye of beholders
Fur coats thicken on foxes and wolverine
Plants lie dormant, conserving til’ spring
24-hours of darkness in the north
Feasts before famine was the old routine
Fermented wine and beer and slow roast
Ice thickens and bears rest in comatose
Marked by Stonehenge’s trilithon, so grandiose
Late December when Fall comes to a close
• Amy Pinney, who grew up in Juneau, loves to write about the Alaskan lifestyle and celebrates our four seasons including the cold and dark northern solstice.
