winter wish

MY WISH is simply for love and light for all that I encounter. As just a moment in time, Winter Solstice will start specifically today at 12:47pm Eastern Standard Time. This occasion always marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun, and this signals the beginning shift to longer days and shorter nights. Also called Yule, it is a celebration of rebirth. Let's hope this coming year gives us plenty of the warmth and brightness that light brings to all things. It's not such a simple concept when you consider the implications. All too-often we forget to live fully in the moment.

MY TREE this year celebrates winter in all it's icy glory. As much as I dislike cold weather, I realize it's a chance for us all to reflect on what the warmth of the sun brings us. It has been an especially rainy season in Atlanta, and as I write this, the sun is shining brightly outside for the first time in days. My kitty Luci is sitting on her cat bed in the warmth of the sunlight streaming through the window. Our Pagan ancestry believed in the mystery and magic of light and darkness and celebrated the seemingly miraculous return of the light at Winter Solstice. No matter whether you subscribe to this system or not, it's the reason for the Christmas tree. And it's hard to deny that we don't all welcome our place in the sun.

LIGHT AND MAGIC | This year's Alpine-shaped tinsel tree (above, right) is from Urban Outfitters. I removed the tinsel wrapped trunk and glittered it with silver German glass glitter along with a turned-wood base to glam it up a bit. Tediously careful shaping of a wire tinsel tree like this is of utmost importance in the final look of the tree.The icicle theme was inspired by a wintry icicle tree I saw in Martha Stewart Living magazine this year, although very differently conceived (it is made up of acrylic rods).

THREE WISHES | These three mercury glass birds (above, left) represent the two people mentioned above and my cat Luci, who are all suffering with cancer. It is my wish that their pain is short and they continue to live as long as possible with dignity and grace.
By Smith and Hawken for Target. 

IN THIS TIME of  reflection, I want to send all the good energy and light I can conjure to two people in my life and to Luci, my cat, who are all three suffering with cancer. My Aunt Wilma has just learned that hers has spread, my good friend Janice Fletcher-White's sister Debbie Noel is sick, and my cat Luci is in her last days as the cancer takes hold. I don't know how much longer any of them will be in my life, but I wish that their suffering with such an insidious disease is as minimal as can be, whatever that might mean. Life is as ephemeral as the light and I'm thankful for all the people and creatures that have and continue to bring love and light to my life. You know who you are. Because of this, I know that the light will return, both physically and metaphorically, no matter what happens.

AS THE YEAR  comes to an end, this simple wish is the hope of the season. And I want to thank all of my friends and followers on this blog and wish them all the season's best. Since this past August, what I've brought to you in my blog has been a labor of love and a way to express my passion for the beauty of life. Spring will come to all of us again after our time with winter. There are lessons even in the darkest hours.

RAYS OF LIGHT | This gorgeous glass-beaded starburst tree topper (left) couldn't be more perfect to guide the light of the season. From Pottery Barn and available in the Atlanta Lenox Square store (the world's largest).

REINDEER PLAY | This glittered reindeer from Target prances among the packages. 

FATHER CHRISTMAS | The elongated form of this Father Christmas from a past season's Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's holds its own among the varied collection of icicle ornaments.

ICE AND SNOW | The large frosted white glass icicle is from the former Martha by Mail catalog. The white snowy owl keeping watch is from a past season's line at West Elm.

©2009 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED,
collecting and styling by Darryl Moland,
tree photographed by Harold Daniels Studio / assisted by Shawn May

all other photographs by Darryl Moland