Yay!
Only one more week to the winter solstice! And then the days will finally begin to get longer!
Maybe I'm just getting older, but this winter has been really difficult for me. This year, I seem to be less able to deal with the cold and the dark.
Where you live, do you have a proper winter with cold and snow? How have you been handling the dark?
Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
The increasing darkness leads me to read more after work.
I really enjoyed the early morning light on the snowy mountains over the weekend (This time of year, I am usually at work in a building before that happens). This morning there was "hoar frost" on the trees, so they sparkled in the morning light! (looking out my window at work).
The nearby ski area is reporting that 146" of snow has already fallen at the summit. Although solstice is coming, we'll probably have snow on the ground through March at least (and that's just the valley floor). It is very helpful to have an enjoyable winter activity (like cross-country skiing) -- if one is just waiting for spring/summer, it is very tough. In the past there were serious issues with "cabin fever" around here -- many folks lived on isolated ranches that were almost inaccessible. We usually get a few cold snaps each winter where, for a week, morning temps are -20 degrees F. or colder. Many folks who don't have a garage have engine block heaters. We also have warm clothes! As the snow does not get as deep on the valley floor, the elk and moose come down -- we sometimes have a moose take up residence in our back yard for a few days. So winter has its pros and cons -- I love it here!
[If one has a taste for mountains and wilderness (As Maha Kassapa says, "Those rocky crags refresh me" -- Thag.18 https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... han.html ), deep snow multiplies the wilderness factor as does nighttime -- moonlight cross-country skiing in the mountains is profound. I must have done something really good in a past life!]
bino: you really got me goin' on this one.
I really enjoyed the early morning light on the snowy mountains over the weekend (This time of year, I am usually at work in a building before that happens). This morning there was "hoar frost" on the trees, so they sparkled in the morning light! (looking out my window at work).
The nearby ski area is reporting that 146" of snow has already fallen at the summit. Although solstice is coming, we'll probably have snow on the ground through March at least (and that's just the valley floor). It is very helpful to have an enjoyable winter activity (like cross-country skiing) -- if one is just waiting for spring/summer, it is very tough. In the past there were serious issues with "cabin fever" around here -- many folks lived on isolated ranches that were almost inaccessible. We usually get a few cold snaps each winter where, for a week, morning temps are -20 degrees F. or colder. Many folks who don't have a garage have engine block heaters. We also have warm clothes! As the snow does not get as deep on the valley floor, the elk and moose come down -- we sometimes have a moose take up residence in our back yard for a few days. So winter has its pros and cons -- I love it here!
[If one has a taste for mountains and wilderness (As Maha Kassapa says, "Those rocky crags refresh me" -- Thag.18 https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... han.html ), deep snow multiplies the wilderness factor as does nighttime -- moonlight cross-country skiing in the mountains is profound. I must have done something really good in a past life!]
bino: you really got me goin' on this one.
Those who grasp at perceptions & views wander the internet creating friction. [based on Sn4:9,v.847]
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Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
No cold and no snow here. It's been around 72 degrees F (22 Celsius) and sunny. Global warming, I guess, we've been having very nice winters the past few years, but then we pay for it in summers with temps over 100 F.
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Here the minimum is about 17° Celsius in winter, but it feels cold when the summer temperature is about double that, plus it requires different clothing. Spending time on cloud shrouded jungle peaks, sometimes in the rain, is profitable. It takes a few hours to slough off the attachment to human society, then the senses lock on to nature and one can feel quite alone; it is then that the attachments are faced fully and distanced through an effort of will. That state of mind has to be carried back into normal life, ‘protecting the sign’, mainly by remaining reserved. I think these two experiences should be conceptualised as two separate realities.
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Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Greetings,
Down under it's the opposite, of course... long days and plenty of sunshine! (Which I really appreciate given that I tend to briefly get Seasonal Affective Disorder around our Winter solstice, so this is the complete opposite)
I love this time of year, because Christmas is coming up (which means some time off work), but also because the days are long, the weather is warm, and there's cricket on the television!
All I need to be particularly careful of is the prospect of sunburn and other possible effects from the intense UV levels and sun glare... of which there can be plenty.
Back to the nature of binocular's query though... when Winter kicks in I use my trusty Philips GoLite Blu and take vitamin supplements, including Swisse Ultiboost Mood. I also try to get outdoors, wherever possible, and try to keep warm.
Metta,
Paul.
Down under it's the opposite, of course... long days and plenty of sunshine! (Which I really appreciate given that I tend to briefly get Seasonal Affective Disorder around our Winter solstice, so this is the complete opposite)
I love this time of year, because Christmas is coming up (which means some time off work), but also because the days are long, the weather is warm, and there's cricket on the television!
All I need to be particularly careful of is the prospect of sunburn and other possible effects from the intense UV levels and sun glare... of which there can be plenty.
Back to the nature of binocular's query though... when Winter kicks in I use my trusty Philips GoLite Blu and take vitamin supplements, including Swisse Ultiboost Mood. I also try to get outdoors, wherever possible, and try to keep warm.
Metta,
Paul.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Yay back!
Southern parts of Norway, but originates from up north, and living up there can be quite challenging in more than one sense - lack of sunlight, to much sunlight and so on. here in the south its less of above mentioned, but then it has other backdraws that living up north lacks - so basically its impossible to chose "the best"
And my take or answer to the question is to remind myself that that which sees the dark is not dark ...
Now in the middle of wintertime I plan to go up to the high north and do some walking, sitting, standing and lying down, and here is a recent picture:
be well and bright!
If you didn't care
What happened to me
And I didn't care for you
We would zig-zag our way
Through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain
Wondering which of the
Buggers to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing
- Roger Waters
What happened to me
And I didn't care for you
We would zig-zag our way
Through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain
Wondering which of the
Buggers to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing
- Roger Waters
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Here it's cold and dark.
As always I have had a terrible time adjusting to the cold when the fall started in ernest, although I must say that now the first snow has come and gone over the last week. I feel up the the remainder of winter..
But then maybe my increased practice from none to an hour over the last 6/7 weeks or so may have some influence on my ability to handle the cessation of life in nature all around..
As always I have had a terrible time adjusting to the cold when the fall started in ernest, although I must say that now the first snow has come and gone over the last week. I feel up the the remainder of winter..
But then maybe my increased practice from none to an hour over the last 6/7 weeks or so may have some influence on my ability to handle the cessation of life in nature all around..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please share your light in abundance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please share your light in abundance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Wow! That picture (and sentiment) is worth a repeat!Crazy cloud wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:57 am Now in the middle of wintertime I plan to go up to the high north and do some walking, sitting, standing and lying down, and here is a recent picture:
be well and bright!
Those who grasp at perceptions & views wander the internet creating friction. [based on Sn4:9,v.847]
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
My city is considered as one of the most depressive in Russia in terms of weather/climate. Sunshine? Never heard about thatWhere you live, do you have a proper winter with cold and snow?
Accept it as it is. For some this is a struggle and they migrate somewhere.How have you been handling the dark?
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Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Strangely beautiful.
"Does Master Gotama have any position at all?"
"A 'position,' Vaccha, is something that a Tathagata has done away with. What a Tathagata sees is this: 'Such is form, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is perception...such are fabrications...such is consciousness, such its origination, such its disappearance.'" - Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
'Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.' - Genesis 3:19
'Some fart freely, some try to hide and silence it. Which one is correct?' - Saegnapha
"A 'position,' Vaccha, is something that a Tathagata has done away with. What a Tathagata sees is this: 'Such is form, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is feeling, such its origination, such its disappearance; such is perception...such are fabrications...such is consciousness, such its origination, such its disappearance.'" - Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
'Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.' - Genesis 3:19
'Some fart freely, some try to hide and silence it. Which one is correct?' - Saegnapha
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
This spring and summer, I have probably spent more time outside than ever before, and I think I may have gotten conditioned to all the sunshine, to the point where I would prefer if it were bright and sunny at least from 5 AM to 7 PM every day.
I generally love sunshine, but I think this year, there may be some mechanical conditioning to this love, like when I got conditioned to fear horizontal steel wires without even knowing when it happened.
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
I'm no expert, but maybe part of it is that you got used to having a good amount of vitamin D from the sunshine and now you're missing it -- I thought it might be worth mentioning.
Those who grasp at perceptions & views wander the internet creating friction. [based on Sn4:9,v.847]
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Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Greetings,
Also, feel free to give the Earth's axis a nudge, if you have the means to do so... balancing out the seasons a bit would be nice.
(I can just imagine the climate change activists recoil in horror at my suggestion...)
Metta,
Paul.
Also, feel free to give the Earth's axis a nudge, if you have the means to do so... balancing out the seasons a bit would be nice.
(I can just imagine the climate change activists recoil in horror at my suggestion...)
Metta,
Paul.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
Winters getting warmer around here as well. It feels like spring.
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Re: Only one more week to the winter solstice!
I have passed your suggestion to Doctor Evil....retrofuturist wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2017 8:49 pm Greetings,
Also, feel free to give the Earth's axis a nudge, if you have the means to do so... balancing out the seasons a bit would be nice.
(I can just imagine the climate change activists recoil in horror at my suggestion...)
Metta,
Paul.
Buddha save me from new-agers!