While the wine in my cup formed ice crystals, I stood close to the winter solstice fire, its sparks crackling up into the snowy air and spoke to the person huddled beside me about reiki healing. I was quite interested in this man's journey to becoming a reiki master.....the whys and hows........my unsaturated curiosity piqued by wanting to know about energy, about interconnecting through intuitiveness. And all the while I'm learning more about a process of touch therapy without laying hands I'm thinking of how cool it was to be having this discussion in the middle of a snowstorm, while celebrating an ancient seasonal, celestial transition.
It never fails. There are always interesting conversations around a campfire....whether it's in the middle of winter or on a sunkissed beach.....the fire pulls people in and offers a dreamy opening to share without conditions.
Others roasted apples, sang songs, and warmed their hands on our blazing fire while huddling close. I jumped in from time to time to add my voice to the open air harmony. At one point, I looked over and watched my children surrounded by their friends enjoying the all ages celebration of life and love and belonging. It warmed me to my core. The snow may have seemed like a hampering obstacle for many that night, but it acted as a means of cocooning with people we share much of our lives with. 
Our clothes captured the smokey essence of pine, birch and ash offerings. It is an aroma which lingers far beyond the moment and I love it. We didn't know how much the blizzard had moved onto "the ridge.".... the location of our party. So we carried on like fools in need of adventure. Fireworks blasted through the flakes, filling the close sky with oddly summer colours. Oooo's and Ahhhh's reminiscent of Canada Day slipped out of our collective chatter. Fireworks amidst the furious flakes is highly recommended! As soon as it was over, someone threw more wood onto the fire and our attention pulled back to the flames.
Eventually, we returned to the house ready to pack up and head out for home early. Plans changed drastically however when we pulled out of the long driveway and onto a completely whited out country road. You couldn't see a damn thing including any semblance of a road. And before we knew it, we retraced our path in reverse (there was no place to turn around) and joined the warm happenings inside. Song and wine poured as we huddled comfortably inside while the blizzard bellowed. The kids settled into borrowed pyjamas and the excitement of a massive sleepover ......
A little after midnight as the wind howled, 4 of us along with 3 dogs bundled up and headed out to the snow covered road to walk down the road to another friend's house where more beds were available and others who had left earlier were waiting for us. All of the kids were tucked in for the night in the Beckley household.....safe and warm and loved and tickled they were in the middle of an adventure.
Almost a foot of snow had already fallen and no end was in sight. We trundled and trudged together, following a track left by some crazy person who had been on the road in a their pickup. The snow came down in a fury with a stinging bite from the whipped up wind, nipping your face like nettles. The conditions were frightening, but the sense of adventure hiking into a maritime winter storm was a tingling affirmation of life. We all felt it. Nature can be so humbling I thought as we turned off the abandoned road and down the driveway where a warm woodstove, and irish cream beckoned. I have never experienced a walk like that before and thanked God I wasn't all alone. It was so bleak in its isolation. The whole landscape was a monochromatic void of life, except the 4 crazy people looking for a bed. I was glad it wasn't a manger waiting at the end of the journey.
........We slept through most of the power outage last night.....
The storm left the area under a thick blanket of snow......the country and the city both were at a standstill for a day as everyone dug out. A white Christmas in the Maritimes is a guarantee....and.............Today, our days begin to get longer. The very thought makes me hopeful.ps. I was also told that the light around me indicates I should learn reiki..........turns out my internal "energy" is conducive for healing. hey, I've got that going for me as I head into 2009. Who needs a candle to light the way when one has a blue light aura to plug into?
