The Holiday Season: Today

Today many of us yearn to make the holiday season
more meaningful, more loving, perhaps more spiritual.

Candlegrove traces the winter holiday season daily from Thanksgiving through Epiphany.

`November 23, 2007`

Today is Buy Nothing Day.

Buy Nothing Day began 15 years ago. It calls attention to our culture's consumerism and its effects on our planet and our own humanity. Choosing the "biggest shopping day of the year," its organizers urge us to rethink our shopping frenzy. Take a breather.

Perhaps, for those of us with the day off from work, it can be a time to consider ways of making the upcoming holiday season more meaningful, less materialistic.

Last year, millions of people in 65 countries joined in. Will you?

In honor of Buy Nothing Day, Candlegrove is removing links to retailers from this page today.

St. Jude's Children's Hospital proposes a different approach to today, a day of "Thanks AND Giving". See their website

`Tips for the day`

Lavish celebration has been a part of our holiday traditions for millenia. But now, with onslaught of holiday advertising madness, is a great time to think about how you can make your own seasonal celebration simpler and more meaningful.

Winter Solstice is a little more than three weeks away. Are you thinking about how you will observe it? Here are some simple ideas.

Read other ideas from Candlegrove visitors.

Or share your plans with others in feedback.

Simple Gifts 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be. And when we find ourself in the place just right 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained To bow and to bend we won't be ashamed. To turn, turn will be our delight 'Till by turning, turning we come round right.

The Shakers had it right. This song, whose melody is a familiar theme in Copland's Appalachian Spring, is also sung as "Lord of the Dance" at The Christmas Revels.

Winter Solstice 2007: Dec 22, 6:08 am Universal Time

Be sure to adjust for your time zone:
EST: Dec 22, 1:08 am
CST: Dec 22, 12:08 am
MST: Dec 21, 11:08 pm
PST: Dec 21, 10:08 pm

If your holiday celebration depends on knowing sunrise and/or sunset times for winter solstice or any other day in your location, find it online at the U.S. Naval Observatory. The database covers 22,000 US locations. For world locations, you'll need your latitude and longitude.

This site also lists solstices and equinoxes through 2020. You'll need to convert to your time zone from Universal Time.

Planning your holidays?

Some questions to think about:

How can I simplify?
Here are some tips from the Center for the New American Dream. Or consider this: A Buy Nothing Christmas

A note about the commerce links on this site: Candlegrove is essentially non-commercial. In some cases, links from this site yield a small affiliate fee. Half of all funds generated by such links help sustain this site. The other half is donated to environmental organizations.

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