Welcoming Winter at the Rill
Happy winter solstice from all of us at Monan’s Rill. With snow last week and plenty of cold and stormy weather, we are welcoming this December transition to winter after abundant October rain and November warmth and sunshine.
In this solstice season, we are deeply grateful for all the support that our wider community has offered in the past year as we have been recovering from wildfire, regenerating the land, and reimagining and rebuilding our future together. Thank you for walking with us on this journey of renewal!
A Monan’s Rill Solstice Tradition
Every December for at least 35 years (nobody quite remembers when it started), the Monan’s Rill community has gathered to celebrate the winter solstice, bringing together past, present, and future members, as well as a few of our neighbors and loved ones. This year and last year, due to the pandemic (and rain), we held the gathering on Zoom rather than inside our community building, but still carried many of our solstice traditions.
Winter solstice at the Rill includes: demonstrating the science behind the solstice and the Earth’s seasons with a globe and a flashlight (or this year, computer graphics), learning about traditions and celebrations across different cultures at this time of year, reading and acting out a solstice story play (this year The Solstice Badger by Robin McFadden), and lighting candles to welcome the return of the light after the darkest night of the year.
Another key element of our solstice celebration is singing traditional carols with new lyrics created by Monan’s Rill members to reflect this landscape.
One of the original Quaker founding members of Monan’s Rill, Madeline Stevenson, wrote new words to the tune of the British folk carol “The Holly and the Ivy”, which former member Joan Linney found, edited, and typed up after we thought they might have been lost in the wildfire:
The Joy of Solstice Here
Oh the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
Sweet singing in our common hall
The joy of Solstice here
The Fir tree and Madrona
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
These tall ones wear the crown
The toyon is our holly
And wears its berries red
They brighten all our hearths and homes
And the wintering birds are fed
The manzanita blossom
In bells of pink and white
Like scattering snow they softly glow
In the morning’s graying light
The live oak leaves have prickles
Sharp as any thorn
And softly shed the silvery mist
On a winter’s day in the morn
Oh the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
Sweet singing in our common hall
The joy of Solstice here
Another solstice carol unique to the Rill has words adapted by member Amy Robinson to the music of “O Holy Night” by Adolphe Adam. These posters were part of our most recent in-person solstice celebration in 2019, and although the paper versions burned, the photos lived on to accompany us in our Zoom celebrations in 2020 and 2021.
May this solstice season brings you joy, rest, and renewal, and we hope to see you on the land in 2022!
