I don't understand why everybody's gone and gotten all so technical on me. I was just thinking in general terms. Seems the Japanese have it better. The cherry blossoms bloom and it's the beginning of the year. That makes wonderful sense to me--and all this solstice, darkest, coldest calculating kind of ways of figuring out beginnings seems bleak somehow.

I know the earth's shaped like a pumpkin, et', and a mishapen pumpkin at that. And I realize those people on the other end have their consciousness of seasons opposite to those of us who live at my own end. If this board teaches one nothing else, it is people at the other end like to rub it in that they're at the top of the world. I suppose they are at least during winter when they run around in their t-shirts and shorts. This whole discussion is Samhain else, ain't it.