Happy winter solstice!

Some of us go through the motions during Christmas completely unaware of the origins of many of our traditions. We decorate our Christmas tree, light a fire in the fireplace, hang wreaths of fir on our doors, and maybe even drink mulled wine and go caroling. It may be a surprise to some of you that many of these traditions originated in pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, celebrations which have been around for as many as 10,000 years! As the days grew shorter in what is now called December, countless cultures held festivals to encourage their sun god to return, and the solstice itself marked the day (and moment) when the sun hit its lowest point and was again on an upward trajectory toward another warm spring.

Anyway, I'm tired and my writing is probably hard to follow, so I'll link a wonderful website explaining the history of mankind's solstice celebrations.

Ancient origins: Solstice

So remember, Christians hijacked pagan holidays, and not the other way around.

My cuckoo dream (don't have a whack-attack, dumb-dumb!)

A few nights ago I had an interesting dream:

I was sitting around in a class of mine. Desks were strewn all around and students were sitting on them and being rowdy; the classroom seemed to be open to the elements. Mr. Dell'Orto, my high school history teacher, announced that he was going away on a trip, and that we should behave ourselves and not do any drugs. He left with his 30-year-old and already bald student teacher. My fellow students quickly began celebrating the freedom of anarchy, and I decided to roll a joint and smoke it.

Unfortunately, as always happens in the best of teen movies, our favorite teacher returned early due to some sort of mishap. I was able to discard the Mary Jane, but there was no way I'd get rid of the smell in time to pass inspection. Mr. Dell'Orto quickly noticed the pervasive odor (and probably recognized it from his college years) and began systematically asking students who was responsible.

Sure enough, he pulled me into his classroom (which leads me to believe that our desks were actually outside) and told me this: "When I got back, everyone smelled like marijuana. When I asked them about it, they said it was you who was smoking, AND that you were shooting heroine."

I quickly explained, "Mr. Dell'Orto, I was NOT shooting heroine, but I was smoking pot. But here's the thing, I'm a time traveler and I smoke marijuana because it helps me relax and avoid going to another time and pla-"

Just then, it seems that the stress of the moment overcame me and I immediately transported to a different location a few days earlier, where the dream continued...