A frenetic time this with cards to make, send and drop off in various places, small gifts to purchase, wrap and deliver, holiday baking to finish off and put away, meetings for tea and conversation with old friends. . . .This is the Yuletide/Christmas card we are sending out this year, just a photo of the old barn out in the Lanark Highlands with my home crafted wreath suspended from the cross beam.
The barn dates from 1862, a rough dressed granite foundation, massive supporting beams of oak and cedar with a diameter of several feet, and a rough plank exterior sheltering its residents from sun, wind, precipitation and icy temperatures. The structure has been standing quietly in its native place and performing its appointed tasks for well over a century now, with nary a complaint and only a a mild protesting creak now and then in high wind and snowfall - in the depths of winter, it sings clearly in a fine true mezzo soprano voice.
Have I ever mentioned here how much I love these old farm buildings? The ornate stained glass windows in churches are delightful, but the walls of my old barn are a wonder, and whenever I enter it, I marvel at the stalwart construction of the place, at its spirit, its air of resolution and its commitment to shelter and community, at the beauty of its old beams and hand hewn boards with their flowing woodgrain and silvery patina. Here is my church, my nave and my transept, my temple and sanctuary, my temenos. Here is my very own rose window, and no stained glass creation will ever match it.
Over the next week or two, I will be sharing a few favourite holiday links here, and I can think of no better place to begin than with Joanna Powell Colbert's incandescent Winter Solstice page.
Oh yes, and there is an original Monday haiku sequence here.
4 comments:
This would be a lovely card to receive - I,too, prefer the barn to any number of stained glass windows though some of them are lovely. Interesting to see you use the Greek word temenos,I haven't come across that since I did my Classical Studies 'A'level a few years ago. Thanks for the links also - Joanna's site looks really interesting. Rowan having to post as Anonymous!
Dear Cate,
I do wish you luck and healing for your beloved ash tree! I'm so sorry she came down in the windstorm. I've been loving your photographs lately, especially the ones of the ice. Thanks for the link to my Winter Solstice pages -- I always feel like I have to say: they're so old! they've been up for eons! I'm so much better as an artist now! :-) But my article on St Lucia and the Holly King is holding up pretty well
Solstice Blessings to you . . .
What a beautiful place to hang the Yule wreath! There is something sacred about old barns, you can really sense that in the winter with the snow blowing outside. It takes me back to another time. Have a blessed Yule!
A singing barn. How neat.
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