When I was little, I memorized poems to recite for my grandmother for her Christmas present each year. It wasn’t always a poem – I think I did the Gettysburg Address one year. The most memorable poem (and the one she liked the best) was Robert Frost’s Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.
Today is the Winter Solstice which means tonight is the longest night of the year. I only found out today that Robert Frost was referring to the Winter Solstice in the poem with the line “the darkest night of the year.”
I just took Red and Blue out for a walk before bed and the night sky is amazing. The stars are brilliant and sparkling and I am sure that Frost was inspired by a night like this to write his famous poem.
I’ve had a lot of Christmas celebrations, and when I look back over the years, I think the best gifts I’ve ever given were reciting those poems for my grandmother. That gave us a connection. Sometimes it is the simple things – baking, decorating, sitting around the dinner table, reciting poems, – that end up meaning the most to us later.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.” (Robert Frost, 1922)
I hope you have a wonderful holiday with those you love and that many years from now you’ll have fond memories of this special season.
Meet you at the Orange Mailbox… Sarah Dabney
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