December 24, 2021
We built two cairns, years ago, marking where the sun sets on the ridge during the summer and winter solstice. Since June, we have been watching the setting sun as it made its way along the horizon. Every night it set a little further south from the pile of stones that marks the summer solstice. The progression has been incremental and imperceptible but in aggregate - it’s come a long way. This week it paused over our southern cairn and soon will start to make its way back north again. Time marches on!
The sheep graze for weeks at a time alongside the precariously balanced piles of stone, and never seem to disturb them. Whether that’s out of respect, or lack of ambition, is hard to say. The pigs, on the other hand, topple both cairns immediately when we let them out to harvest acorns in the fall. There is no apparent reason for them to even be near the piles, but they are curious creatures and it’s just in their nature to disrupt and disturb.
They are, in fact, not unlike the foraging Corona virus which, once again, toppled our Holiday plans. It’s okay, it’s nothing personal, disturbance is just in its nature. We’ll have another quiet Christmas, without grandchildren yet again. It wasn’t our first choice, but it’ll be okay. We’ll find the quiet in the darkness and the beauty in the sunrise and we’ll rebuild the cairn that marks our shortest day.