At 7:09pm on December 21, 2021, Sol Richey and myself mounted the Shed Stage of Green Man Coffee House’s backyard theater and bellowed Wæs Hæil! The well-spaced, assembled multitude answered in kind to the Olde English expression for be well— our longstanding toast for this special party. So began the 40th annual Winter Solstice Celebration.
How did we get to this triumphant moment? With the Big Germ still raging around us for the past two Decembers, our coterie longed for something familiar, yet safe. Meeting inside a crowded room was out of the question, and the 2020 virtual version didn’t satisfy either the togetherness we craved or generate any sort of shared feeling. Solution: Let’s meet outside!
But where? Sure enough, it so happened that an adequate venue awaited with immediate availability: our very own Green Man Coffee House pavilion, back yard theater, and Shed Stage, scene of many gatherings since 2009, but never a Winter Solstice. Traditionally, the bonfire that helps the Sun return from his southward journey is brought inside the dwelling on the longest night of the year. Texas winters are often mild, and luck brought no rain to the forecast this particular evening. Under current circumstances, instead of a hearth that you’d find inside a great hall, we arranged standard concrete blocks in an unusual way to build an elegant place for the fire.
We dressed the stage with a green screen, colored lights, living plants, and an image of the Sun, which resident artist Lina custom-painted to honor the Andrea Feathers illustration that graced the event’s invitation.
Our friend Ty set up microphones and video cameras to record the entire event. It was to have been live-streamed but, alas, technical difficulties intervened.
Folks arrived at 6:00 and feasted on their own picnic dinners because we eschewed (pun intended) our normal potluck style. Long about 6:30, I began concocting a pot of wassail, the seasonal hot beverage that truly sets the mood for this unique gathering. I’ve used the same recipe for a long time: ale, sherry, brown sugar, ginger, nutmeg, baked apples, lemons. Lina made a virgin version without alcohol. Just before the ceremony began, Lina and daughter Julia passed out compostable cups of the drink. Attendees also held songbooks and ceremonial orders.
The program proceeded in this wise:
The Yule Log is a special piece of firewood that’s decorated with ribbons and bows and anointed with some wassail. We chanted OMs to center ourselves and evoke the spirits, then I tossed that blesséd lumber onto the sparking hearth. Immediately from all came a rousing “Deck the Hall.”
A bevy of wassail songs though the evening connected us with the venerable custom of going house to house during the festive season to sing to neighbors in hopes of attaining some kind of treat: a crust of bread, bit of cheese, or sip of good cheer. Poets shared verse, one soloist broke into “Holly and Ivy,” and we all leaned in as a trio sang “Walking in the Air” from the animated film The Snowman. Using whimsical wordless cue cards, the revelers breezed through the “12 days of Christmas” before the finale, ”Glouchestershire Wassail,” perhaps the best known of all the numbers.
With a final Wæs Hæil or three, the agenda concluded. Many lubricated conversations ensued, and folks departed happy. A good time was had by all. Best of the season, dear friends, until next year!
For a look back on four decades of Winter Solstice invitations, looky here.
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