Wonderland - Version 2024

E1 Precognition

E1."Precognition" – Can you tell the future? Create a blog entry (or static item) giving us the events that would transpire on this date: December 21st, 2024. (<1000 words)

I can probably tell everyone that on December 21, 2024 there will be the least amount of light for the year. That will make me very sad. And why, you ask. Well, it is the winter solstice date. The longest night of the year, the shortest day of the year.

I need light and lots of it. I thrive with the sun. I hate the dark nights of winter. It makes me sad. So I probably do have SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder.

I know somewhere someone will be lighting candles and bonfires to chase away the night. Across the world, the solstice is celebrated with festivals, parades and more. Some of the largest celebrations are held at England's Stonehenge, a neolithic monument that was built to align with the sun on solstice days. On the winter solstice, the sun sets to the southwest of the stone circle. As long ago as the Zhou period (circa 1100BC-256BC), the Chinese were already observing the winter solstice as a state holiday. This turning point of the year is an important aspect of Dongzhi with a traditional custom in parts of China being that on Dongzhi everyone turns one year older.
The festival is a time to gather with your family and a common activity in southern China is the making and eating of a sweet soup containing balls of glutinous rice, called tangyuan. The spherical tangyuan, which can be stuffed with meat, some kind of sweet paste, or without filling, symbolise fullness and completeness.

Every year I get the blues from November til January. That holiday time is the worst for me. Once the sun starts back on its journey and shines a bit more each day, then I’m a happy camper. So I guess that is my tradition for December 21st. Sad mourning for a month, then joy as the sun returns for a few more glorious moments each day.

W/C 348

.

.
.