Home

Winter Solstice 2022: Warm Friends on a Cold Night

3 Comments

It all started at 3pm for me (with the perfunctory “lighting of the barrel”).  Just making sure there was a heat source for people who arrived before the big bonfire lighting.

The sky was gorgeous.

And soon there were solstice attendees and tiki torches.

We lit the fire shortly after 5pm when it finally got dark enough.  There were LOTS of people here for the lighting.  It was a good one.

 

The fire had a huge core (that is still burning late the next day).

Meanwhile up at the barn there was terrible Christmas music, lots of food, and a great sense of camaraderie.

The homemade eggnog (recipe here) made things a little blurry.  Delicious.

The space between the barn and the bonfire is always magical.  This year, the lasers were particularly remarkable.

And the highlight of the evening for me.  Music with Clark and Gina.  Yes please.  This is how we turn the sun.

We wrapped things up around midnight with the last of the hearty attendees, leaving a large pack of 20 somethings to deal with the skunk!

Moonshine loved it.

And he says, now that everything is cleaned up, lets do it again!

Thanks to all who came.  Magical.

Winter Solstice Solo 2019

Leave a comment

The solstice tradition continues in force. Thanks to all who came for the love, laughter, music, and joy.

Tiki lighting

Tiki lighting

 

Deck the bridge

 

Sophie prefers parties indoors, thanks..

Sophie prefers indoor parties, thanks.

 

The barn in party mode

 

Before

 

More before

 

Sundown on the solstice

The lighting was as spectacular as ever.

 

Turn sun turn!

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile in the barn…Sophie takes a party nap.

 

Do not party like Sophie.

 

Boilo

 

Solstice potluck disco center

 

Burn hot

Alec and the fiddle player

 

The solution to cold butts

 

2am coals

I know, lets do it again. See you at the summer solstice!

Burn Baby Burn: 2017 Winter Solstice Fire

8 Comments

Cerbe meets mogli before dark

Music. Great food. Huge fire. Friends. Boilo. What more could you want?

Early birds get to see the lighting

Mmmmmm. Beer.

The lighting

Put it in perspective: 100 feet of flame.

This year the fairy ring of osage oranges turned into a warning line for fire spread. We had to get water buckets and a hose out for the first time ever.

The fire spreads

View from the field

The two (or three) pods making up the solstice party are always a good mix. Food and cheesy Christmas music in the barn. Fire and live music in the field. This year some of the real music moved into the barn during a brief rain.

Lights

Boilo causes time warps

Marco

Boilo

Turn sun turn

Thanks to all who came. An excellent iteration.

Winter Solstice Fire 2015

4 Comments

Winter Solstice Fire 2015

Winter Solstice Fire 2015

It all started out with champagne, celebrating Team Tartan’s 2015 Leukemia Cup accomplishment with a crop of Timex watches. (About which this.)

bubbles

bubbles

Burn barrel before the lighting

Burn barrel before the lighting

Then it got dark, the keg was tapped, the cheesy xmas music was put on infinite repeat in the barn, burn barrels were lit, and off we went! Early birds got to see the bonfire lighting. Middle birds got to see music and sparkling guitars. Late birds shut down the bar inside with Berryville Passages at 6am. Are we too old for this? No we are not.

Fire

Fire

Who let the banjo player in?

Who let the banjo player in?

Fire too

Fire too

Thanks to one and all for coming! We turned the sun around again!

Solstice Fire 2014

2 Comments

The longest night is over. We turned the sun again. Great solstice party, as ever, thanks to all of you. Of note this year, superior food in the random food pile and really tasty tunes by the fire.

I know, lets do it again!!

2014 winter solstice fire

2014 winter solstice fire

The night was still and cold, and the fire took a couple of minutes to get going. Jack took some video that was transformed into this time lapse.

lighting (starts small)

lighting (starts small)

Sadly, the keg was dead by 7:30?! It’s impossible to get the beer amount dialed in even after 11 years of practice. Oh well, there’s always bourbon.

Dogs Declare Solstice Fire Ready

Leave a comment

Puck sez "Fire ready to light"

Puck sez “Fire ready to light”

The solstice fire is ready. The weather report is improving (sorry cynthia). Time to turn the sun around!!

Spring-like day on the Shenandoah

Spring-like day on the Shenandoah

Sunlight begets fire light

Sunlight begets fire light

Before.

2014 fire

2014 fire

After (2013).

2014 Winter Solstice Fire

3 Comments

What started idyllic.

Sunset on the solstice (comes early).

Sunset on the solstice (comes early).

Turned to the apocalyptic.

Apocalypse now.

Apocalypse now.

90 feet of flame

90 feet of flame

And ended with the ridiculous.

Who took my winter??

Who took my winter??

Salubrious solstice to all, and may your recovery be complete.