Happy Hogswatch

We have once again immersed ourselves in the annual ritual of watching the film, "Hogfather", and I can only say that it has left me feeling comfortably grounded. It's not a cure for the yearly personal plunge into misanthropy, but Pratchett knows people without (apparently) disliking them -- as a species, anyway. He has a way of making straight sense of the swirling contradictions, which only send me into a tailspin of outward-spiraling ... disappointment. I am, I think, ready for the eggnog.

The light coating of snow helps, certainly. Not so much for instilling the holiday spirit, because the shoveling and slippery roads and wall of post-precipitation cold are just winter and nothing new or inspiring. But it's a dark time of year, and the white just makes it lighter. Probably a measurable physiological effect, and in that belief I drive down the road refusing to put the sun shade down so I get a double dose of insolation. Of course, it makes it harder to see oncoming traffic, but I come out of it that much more cheerful.

And then there's the ritual. Every year I look up in advance the Earliest Sunset, Solstice, and Latest Sunrise (in that order -- I crave order), and mark them on the calendar.* Then I mark the progress of the light, count the days and try to keep my bearings through the mad howl of the OTHER holiday ritual -- the expensive, highly sweetened and emotionally-charged one.** And then I watch "Hogfather"+, and I listen to Death's explanation for the necessity of belief++, the clever perennial deception which allows our species to build a safe framework in which to evolve, and I have some hope once again. The manifestations of that belief may be some of the most dangerous things we can inflict on ourselves and our biosphere, but on those rare occasions when we manage to get a handle on WHY we believe, perhaps we can turn them to the good.

That's my hope, anyway. So a Happy Hogswatch to all.

*December 8th, December 22nd (for we on EDT), and January 5th
**Yeah, there's the religious bit, too, but I'm just not a fan. The metaphor is so hopelessly muddled, it doesn't really say anything to me.
 +Don't worry, I read the book first.
++Not just deism and such -- big stuff like justice and compassion