#Christmas In Bayberry

[y2kbeautyandother2000sstuff]

BBW Holiday Collection Bayberry Spice Candle

Holiday 2000, maybe 2001?

Found on Ebay, user Fosmom1696

[breelandwalker]

Cold Moon - December 26, 2023

Bundle up, witches! It's time for the Cold Moon!

Cold Moon

The Cold Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs in the month of December, particularly appropriate this year as the full moon will occur late in the month, smack in the middle of the bleak midwinter.

This will be another month when the moon appears full for two nights in a row, so we'll have a full moon for Christmastime, with peak illumination on Dec 26th at 7:33pm EST. (A perfect aesthetic for those who are fans of the classic poem "A Visit From St Nicholas" aka "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Personally, I'm holding out hope that we'll have the snowy conditions to match, though it's a long shot.)

Like most full moon names, the Cold Moon takes its' moniker from an English translation of a traditional name used by one or more North American indigenous groups. There are a number of indigenous names that reference the wintry conditions when this moon occurs, including Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee), Winter Moon (Tunica-Biloxi), Hoar Frost Moon (Cree), and Long Night Moon (Mohican). More evocative names include Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree) and Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala), both of which refer to a phenomenon which occurs during extreme cold, when the sap inside a tree freezes and the expanding pressure causes portions of the bark or even entire limbs to "pop" with loud cracking sounds that can be heard for miles.

Other names for the December moon include Yule Moon (Norse origins), Oak Moon (Celtic origins), and Bitter Moon (Chinese origins).

What Does It Mean For Witches?

The year is winding down. It's time to wrap up our projects and put aside what we haven't finished or no longer need. Rather than berating ourselves for the things we didn't finish or didn't accomplish, this is a time to give ourselves some grace and celebrate our successes and triumphs and the things we DID accomplish.

With only one page left on the calendar, many of us are already looking ahead to the new year, making plans and setting goals. This is a good time to brainstorm and engage in a bit of broad-view planning. Sketch out the things you'd like to see or do or try in the new year. Give voice to your dreams and start thinking of ways to make them happen.

The Cold Moon also falls soon after the winter solstice this year (Dec 21), which could be a boon for anyone looking to time their seasonal rituals in optimal fashion. A working could be begun on the solstice and built up to culminate on the night of the Cold Moon, just before the start of a new calendar year.

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

Have a small supper gathering with friends or family (holiday themed or not, it's up to you) to share joys and fellowship and enjoy good food and drink. Make wishes together for the new year. (Wish jars can be done individually or as an informal group ritual. Sharing wishes anonymously can be a fun party game.) A "White Elephant" gift exchange with inexpensive or homemade witchy goods for your circle could be fun too!

Make a wish jar for the new year on the winter solstice and put it out to charge under the Cold Moon. Cleanse any of your tools or crystals or accoutrements that you use moonlight for one more time this year.

This is the perfect time for divinations and goalsetting for the coming year. Pull out your favorite divination tools and your 2024 planner and sketch out the coming year. You can also try candle wax divination with holiday candles, if that's something that interests you.

Also, save those seasonal bayberry candles for future use! They're great for debt repayment and money-drawing spells.

If you need some ideas for a fun family activity, you can feed the birds for good luck, either with scattered birdseed or pinecone birdfeeders. String dried fruit slices, cinnamon sticks, pinecones, holly leaves and berries, and other seasonal faves to make garlands. Stick apples or oranges or clementines full of cloves in pretty patterns to make pomanders.

Use those fibre arts skills to create a special piece to keep your home warm and safe and well-supplied until spring. It doesn't have to be anything big - a simple weaving or single square will do. Crochet or cut out snowflakes for your home decor. If you want to get fancy, pick up a ball of cotton warp thread and look for old doily patterns - they look great as hoop weavings hung on the wall (or make a witch web in winter colors).

Make one more batch of moonwater to carry you through to the new year. If it happens to snow or freeze where you live, you can save clean snow or icicles for special (non-drinkable) elemental water, which can be a fun base for moonwater as well.

And speaking of elements, make sure to remember in all your seasonal decorating that fire safety is paramount. Be careful with your candles, warmers, light strings, plugs, extension cords, and cables. DO NOT "daisy chain" your extension cords or power strips. Never leave candles or wax warmers or simmer pots unattended, and turn off your holiday lights before bedtime. Safety first, witches!

Thanks for joining me for this exploration of full moon magic. See you next year!

Happy Cold Moon, witches! 🌕🧊

Further Reading:

Additional Lunar Calendar posts

Moon Rise Calculator - The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Cold Moon: Full Moon in December 2023, The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Full Moon December 2023: Illuminating the Cold Moon's Spiritual Meaning, The Peculiar Brunette.

How Do Trees Survive The Winter?, National Forest Foundation.

How to Make Pomander Balls, The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Fun Kid's Activity: Winter Pinecone Bird Feeder, Audubon Southwest.

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison, Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

[greenwitchcrafts]

Updated version:

December 2023 witch guide

Full moon: December 26th

New moon: December 12th

Sabbats: Yule December 21st-January 1st

December Cold Moon

Known as: Drift Clearing Moon, Frost Exploding Tree Moon, Moon of the Popping Trees, Hoar Frost Moon, Snow Moon, Winter, Aerra Geola, Maker Moon, Heilagmanoth, Long Night's Moon, Oak Moon, Wintermonat, Moon of the Long Night, Little Spirit Moon, Wolf Moon & When the Deer Shed Their Antlers Moon

Element: Fire

Zodiac: Sagittarius & Capricorn

Nature spirits: Snow, Storm, & Winter Tree faeries

Deities: Athena, Fates, Hades, Hathor, Hecate, Ixchel, Minerva, Neith, Norns, Osiris & Persephone

Animals: Bear, deer, horse & mouse

Birds: Robin, rook & snowy owl

Trees: Fir, Holly & Pine

Herbs: Bay, cedar, chamomile, cinnamon, English ivy, evergreen, fir, frankincense, holly, mistletoe, myrrh, pine & sage

Flowers: Christmas catus, holly & poinsettia

Scents: Cedar, cinnamon, frankincense, ginger, lilac, myrrh, nutmeg, patchouli, pine, rose geranium, rosemary, saffron, violet & wintergreen

Stones: Bloodstone, blue topaz, cat's eye, garnet, jacinth, obsidian, peridot, turquoise, zircon, ruby & serpentine

Colors: Black, blood red, gold, green, red, silver, black & white

Energy: Alchemy, darkness, endurance, death & re-birth, higher education, publications, reaching out to others, religion, spiritual paths, travel & truth

Today, December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon—a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year, when cold weather truly begins to grip us.

This full Moon has also been called the Long Night Moon (Mohican), as it rises during the “longest” nights of the year, near the December winter solstice. This name is doubly fitting because December’s full Moon shines above the horizon for a more extended period than most full Moons.

In Europe, ancient pagans called the December full Moon the “Moon Before Yule,” in honor of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the sun heralded by winter solstice.

Yule

Also known as: Alban, Arthan & Winter Solstice

Season: Winter

Symbols: Baskets of clove studded fruit, Christmas catus,  decorated evergreen trees, evergreen boughs, gifts, gold pillar candles, hung mistletoe, poinsettias, wreaths & Yule logs/small Yule log with three candles

Colors: Gold, green, orange, red, silver, white &yellow

Oils/incense: Bayberry, cedar, cinnamon, frankincense. Myrrh & pine

Animals: Bear, boar, deer (stag), pig, squirrel & tiger

Birds: Eagle, goose, kingfisher, lapwing, owl robin & wren

Stones: Bloodstone, garnet, ruby, alexandrite, blue topaz,  cat's eye, citrine, clear quartz, diamond, emerald, green tourmaline, jet, kunzite & pearl

Foods: Caraway cakes, cookies, eggnog, fruits, ginger tea, nuts, pork, spiced cider, turkey, wassail & lamb's wool (ale,  sugar, nutmeg & roasted apples)

Herbs/plants: Bay, bayberry, birch, blessed thistle, cedar, chestnut, cinnamon, evergreens, fir, frankincense, ginger, holly, ivy, juniper, mistletoe, moss, myrrh, oak, pine, rosemary, sage, valerian & yellow cedar

Flowers: Chamomile, poinsettia & yarrow

Goddesses: Alcyone, Aphrodite, Ameratasu, Bona Dea, Brighid, Cailleach Bheur, Demeter, Diana, Fortuna, Frau Holle, Frau Perchta, Frigga, Gaia, Hel, Great Mother, Idunn, Isis, Ishtar, Kolyada, La Befana, Maat & Tiamat

Gods: Apollo, Attis, Balder, Bragi, Dionysus, Divine Child, Green Man, Helios, Holly King, Horned one, Horus, Janus, Lord of Misrule, Lugh, Mabon, Marduk, Mithras, Odin, Ra, Saturn & Surya

Issues Intentions & Powers: Darkness, divination, light, messages/omens, purification, rebirth/renewal & transformation

Spellwork: Earth magick, happiness, harmony, love & peace

Activities:

• Set up & decorate a Yule altar

• Clean, organize & cleanse before decorating your home

• Make witch's balls to hang on your tree (protective & pretty!)

• Decorate & bless & Yule tree

• Stay awake until dawn to observe the cycles of nature

• Give gifts tomyour family & friends

• Donate your time or helpful items to charity

• Go caroling

• Hang mistletoe in your doorways

• Make Wassail

• Prepare a Yule Log

• Host a Yule feast

• Craft your own decorative wreath

• Decorate your house with Yule colored candles

• Welcome the Sun

• Go on nature walks & leave offerings to nature

• Meditate & reflect on the passing year

“Yule” comes from Old English geol, which shares a history with the equivalent word from Old Norse, jól. Both these words referred to a midwinter festival centered around the winter solstice, which traditionally marked the halfway point of the winter season. After the solstice—the shortest day of the year—the days again begin to grow longer, so it’s thought that Yule was a celebration of the re-appearance of the Sun &the fertile land’s rebirth. 

The celebration of Yule is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. Ancient people were hunters & spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons & weather played a significant part in their lives. The customs and traditions associated with it vary widely.

Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the heathen Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht ("Mothers' Night")

Some believe it marks the rebirth of the Sun (the God) from the Earth (the Goddess) & the cold days of winter will soon begin to wane. The Goddess is seen in her virgin Maiden aspect

In towns and cities throughout Sweden during the Christmas season, large goats are constructed out of straw. It is thought that the tradition originated in ancient times, perhaps as a tribute to the god Thor, who was said to ride in a chariot pulled by goats. In Sweden the goat came to be associated with the Christmas celebration, and the Yule goat is now considered by many to be a companion or counterpart to Santa Claus.

Related festivals:

Christmas- An annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ as the son of God, primarily observed on December 25th

Hanukkah- A Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem & subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.

Hanukkah is observed for eight nights & days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, commonly called a menorah or hanukkiah. 

Kwanzaa- An annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1st, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West & Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966. 

A Kwanzaa ceremony may include drumming and musical selections, libations, a reading of the African Pledge & the Principles of Blackness, reflection on the Pan-African colors, a discussion of the African principle of the day or a chapter in African history, a candle-lighting ritual, artistic performance & finally, a feast of faith (Karamu Ya Imani).

Saturnalia-

is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar & later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum & a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying & a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted & masters provided table service for their slaves as it was seen as a time of liberty for both slaves and freedmen alike.

 A common custom was the election of a "King of the Saturnalia", who gave orders to people, which were followed & presided over the merrymaking. The gifts exchanged were usually gag gifts or small figurines made of wax or pottery known as sigillaria. The poet Catullus called it "the best of days".

Other celebrations:

Feast of Epona-

Eponalia is the feast day of Gaulish Goddess Epona, the Divine Mare & in the time of the Roman Empire it was celebrated on December 18th.

Epona is known to be one of a very few Gaulish deities whose names were spread to the rest of the Roman Empire. This seems to have happened because Roman cavalry units stationed in Gaul followed Her & adopted her as their Patroness. This may have started because many of the cavalry troops were conscripted from Gaul as they were superb horsemen. From Gaul the Romans took Epona with them including to Rome where She was given her own feast day on the 18 December. They worshipped her as Epona Augusta or Epona Regina & invoked her on behalf of the Emperor. She even had a shrine in the barracks of the Imperial Bodyguard.

Hunting of the Wren-

A traditional custom carried out on the Isle of Man on the 26 December, St. Stephen's Day. It consists of groups of people going around villages and towns singing and dancing a traditional song and dance around a decorated wren pole.

The earliest and most common folklore story accounting for the origin of hunt the wren tells of a fairy/enchantress/witch whose beauty lures the men of the Isle of Man to harm, for which she is chased and is changed into the form of a wren. It is therefore in punishment for her actions that the wren is hunted on St. Stephen's Day

Sources:

Farmersalmanac.com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Llewellyn's 2023 magical almanac: practical magic for everyday living

Wikipedia

Encyclopedia Britannica

[hargrove-mayfields]

Christmas was supposed to be a time for family, that’s what Steve has always been taught anyways, but, seeing as his parents don’t really understand what it’s like having gone through what he and his friends have, they aren’t much of a family these days.

Steve was never of the Christly faith, he was Jewish actually, but the family chose to celebrate Christmas for its messages and the staples of the season. Things like the wood burning stove crackling with warmth and watching snow coat the evergreens in the backyard. Baking and relaxing and peace on earth and such.

The festivities of both of his holidays weren’t quite dampened as much as his faith was the moment a six foot faceless monster dropped out of the ceiling with intent to kill him. Though last Christmas went pretty shit anyways, for the first time in years spending that time of year with someone he genuinely cared about, only to realize in retrospect it hadn’t been a mutual love and cheeriness.

Steve isn’t sure about getting into the festive spirit this year, whatever that even means to him anymore.

He doesn’t decorate as much as he used to; something about having all those lights in his house, the way they used to wrap around the banister and frame the huge wreath above the mantelpiece, it just makes him paranoid now. No sense of wonder filled nostalgia and warmth in his chest, instead just waiting for the moment they start to flash and signal something coming after him. A festive beacon signaling his location across dimensions, that’s a big ‘no’ from him.

He realizes about four days before Christmas that his apathy had bled into the rest of his traditions too, altogether forgetting to bake the cookies he’d inevitably eat all by himself anyways, or to write cards to family members who probably only trashed the envelope without opening it. Steve can’t stop himself from this depressing spiral either, every last idea of mirrored baubles and other delights shot down in a heartbeat with a negative one twice as strong.

Hell, he even forgot to fish out an old bayberry candle from the attic, which is enough on its own to make him worry a little. His Ima always told him if there was one tradition he could never give up, it was the candle, and every year he’d light that thing and watch it like a hawk to make sure it burned down to the base starting on Christmas Eve morning. It’s bad luck to not. The whole family will be cursed by every god imaginable.

There’s a little flier in his mailbox for Christmas Eve service. Even if his faith has been tested, he can say for certain he’ll never be Christian. His faith and his identity are linked in some ways too tested and true to just move on.

Still. He considers going. Christmas Eve service won’t be enough to undo the damning of his soul for forgetting the candle, and it won’t change his mind on the religion thing either.

It’ll get him out of the house, though. Maybe allow him to see some old faces. Connect with real humans again. There’ll be coffee and cookies anyways, and one of his favorite parts of Christmas has always been the baked goods.

Blame it on all that’s happened in the last year, but Steve decides to go, if not just because he’d failed at achieving literally everything else he had on his to-do list for the season. He’d at least rather feel like he was being judged by old church bitties than feel the crushing weight of having nothing at home for himself.

He’s already late when he does show up at the church, as in -the old people have stopped bullshitting and the service had actually started- late. Actually, he’d been there for a half hour before then at least, but sat outside in his car until he mustered the courage to go inside and face what he’s quickly realizing was a bad decision.

Steve is forced to sit at the very back of the church since, even if he won’t be listening, he doesn’t want to interrupt everybody else. Not a bad deal for someone who guilt-tripped his own sorry self into coming in the first place, but the problem he has with the situation is the company.

He thought this would be helping. It isn’t.

See, most of the church is full of families, people grouped together in their little circles and rubbing it in just how lonely Steve is this year.

In the last few rows there are a couple of other loners like him, but even those are mostly full of people who look generally friendly with each other at least. Steve doesn’t have the luxury.

Billy Hargrove’s taking up almost a whole pew for himself, slouched down with his legs all spread, like he doesn’t want to be seen. Knowing Hargrove the way Steve thinks he does, he assumes that’s exactly the case. That the asshole got dragged along by his nice family to church, to celebrate the community he made it a point to terrorize since day one of being in Hawkins.

Steve’s God isn’t quite the same as the one from this church, but whoever is up there, if anybody, he curses them for creating such a dick as Billy and sending him down to bother Steve.

Maybe he’s projecting a little, but all the same, the only seat left where he’s not going to be interrupting something is right next to Hargrove.

If he had any pride left he’d turn and walk out the door, but he’s only here because he’s already at rock bottom. Might as well spend the holiday with someone who’s probably going to kick his ass again for being a bother.

But Hargrove doesn’t even look at him when he sits next to him, his head is tipped back against the seat and there are sunglasses perched on his nose, despite it being dark out already and one a dreary winter day when there was no sun to begin with. The only indication that he even noticed Steve’s presence is that he moved his leg away so he and Steve aren’t making contact.

Steve’s not going to act like he suddenly likes the guy, but he can tell something is up with him. He asks, pretty bluntly, “What’s a guy like you doing passed out drunk in a church, Hargrove?”

Billy’s face shifts slowly into a half-assed smirk, looking mostly like he’s in pain from forcing the expression, “Why, you want in on it?”

“Honestly, it wouldn’t suck as much if I had a drink first.” Steve shrugs, trying against every instinct in his body to be civil with Billy. It’s not like the other boy is much of a threat the way he’s slumped down and broken looking anyways. Steve feels almost bad for passing judgements.

Until Billy calls him on his hypocrisy, hardly even looking in his direction, “You came in here alone. You wanna be here, Harrington. Don’t act like you’re like me.”

Arguing back with those assumptions, Steve insists, mostly because of the nerve of Billy to assume his situation insults him, “Well I don’t see your family around.”

“‘Cause they're too embarrassed to be seen with me after I beat your sorry ass. Ruined a reputation that didn’t even exist yet. They're up at the front, putting on their happy family routine to make up for it.” Billy relays.

The tone of his explanation would imply that it’s nothing to him, just a mild inconvenience no larger than their own dispute, but his demeanor reads otherwise. And suddenly makes a lot more sense to Steve.

Steve’s definitely chastened, reluctant as his heart tells him to be in trusting Billy, “Oh. Couldn’t you have just.. stayed home then?”

“No way. And get up to more trouble while the rest of my family has to pull the weight of our publicity. Yeah right.” Finally Billy sits up a little straighter, if only to mumble, mostly to himself more than for Steve to hear, “That’d only get my ass beat worse, even if I didn’t do shit.”

And really, as much as Steve is never prepared for what spiteful bullshit is about to come tumbling out of Hargrove’s mouth, this is especially surprising. Like, the kind of unexpected that leaves him speechless and just staring for a moment.

He settles on blurting out, “You.. didn’t have to tell me all that.”

Maybe bitter, or maybe perfectly unbothered in that annoyingly trademark Billy Hargrove way, he meets Steve’s disaster of an attempt at coherency with a simple, “You didn’t have to accuse me of being a drunk either. But the more you run your mouth, the more I feel perfectly justified in giving you that concussion.”

“Never heard of a joke, have you?” Steve tries again, thinking he can be on a bully’s level now, but clearly that wasn’t the vibe Billy was actually going for.

Billy scoffs, glaring with suspiciously wet eyes under those tinted glasses at Steve, “Right. ‘Cause it’s so hilarious, getting to see the new King of the bullshit high school hierarchy at an all time low. You’ve got lots to laugh at Harrington.”

“But I’m not. You think I don’t got my own shit to deal with? Like I just wander into a church I don’t even worship at, an hour late and without my best on, just for fun?”

Knocking himself down a few pegs succeeds in getting Billy to warm back up to him, inviting a new interest in his expression, “So what’s your sin then, Harrington? What’s got you crawling out here and stooping to the peasant level?”

For more reasons than just their location, Steve answers honestly, if not somewhat dramatic, “Incurable loneliness. Being an idiot. Never being good enough. Forgetting to light my goddamned bayberry candle.”

“That bad, huh?” Billy fake winces, the edge bleeding back out of his demeanor. It reminds Steve of the Billy he’d first met that night. Before he’d lied and things went to hell.

Speaking of, Billy abruptly comes out with what they’ve both been thinking, “Look. Do you even believe in all this.. this savior bullshit?”

Steve shrugs, swallowing the fear of denouncing tradition in favor of impressing Hargrove, “Nope. And if we’re being really honest, I only came here because there’d be food.”

“Exactly. Our problems ain’t gonna be fixed by the big man in the red suit or whatever. You and me Harrington, we gotta take this shit into our own hands.” Billy rambles, and for a second it looks like he’s about to put his hands on Steve’s shoulders, before he changes position at the last minute and rests his arm over the back of the pew instead.

Why does Steve kind of wish he had touched him? He brushes it off. They’re playing mind games right now, talking about shit without talking about it. He’s gotta focus or he’ll fall behind.

“And just how are we going to do that?” Steve hums, some part of him wondering at this point if he is just amusing a drunken Billy.

But the other boy surprises him once more, challenging how convinced Steve is in his perceptions of him, “Step one, let’s just get outta here.”

Steve’s mouth feels dry and his stomach feels in knots.

“Uh, Hargrove. Didn’t you like, just say you had to be here though?”

“That was ten minutes ago. I’m a new man now, unrestrained by the confines of a paternal dictatorship keeping me bound to this holy house of worship.”

That doesn’t make it any more obvious to Steve what his intention is, if anything just making him more confused. Feeling like a jackass about it, he asks for clarification, a problem that has every bit to do with himself and his expectations, and not so much with Hargrove’s, “What?”

“I said fucking stick it to Neil Hargrove and to God. And let’s go already before we get struck down or something.” Billy stands then, the preacher thankfully deep enough into whatever speech was going on that only a few churchgoers turned to glare at the interruption.

Steve realizes he doesn’t have much choice, or desire, to do anything but follow Billy.

They almost wordlessly end up at Steve’s car, Billy himself having been driven with the rest of his family and having no other way to get home.

It’s still tense between them, this spur of the moment Christmas truce not doing much to ease Steve’s worries. Things feel even more awkward than they need to be, at least to Steve.

Billy, on the other hand, makes himself right comfortable in Steve’s car, like they’d been best friends all along and this was a perfectly normal thing for the two of them to be doing.

Somehow it simultaneously made Steve really want to get closer to him,so he could understand the way his head works to make him so sporadic in a way Steve himself had never been good at being.

Part way through the drive, Billy had cranked the heat in the car all the way up, a sign he’s not taking his first white Christmas that well. His salt-stained boots are kicked up on his dashboard, and the sunglasses he wore for no apparent reason were finally removed to be looped onto the collar of his jacket.

He wasn’t lying about the beating. Behind the shades wasn’t a drunken, out of focus gaze. No.

A bruise the size of almost the entirety of his left cheekbone stretches and warps into his swollen brow, where a cut near his eyelid forces it half-shut.

“You’re not nervous are you?” Steve needs the reassurance.

They could both get in trouble from the man they both know landed that bruise on Billy’s cheek. Getting caught wasn’t a question, they would know he wasn’t at the church anymore, it was just a matter of what excuse Billy could come up with that wouldn’t get him in more trouble.

“Me? Never.” Billy just shrugs him off, though again adds something under his breath, sort of like a filter for the truths he finds painful to speak, “Just hurry up and take me as far away from here as possible. I hate this stupid hell hole and I don’t want Neil’s ass dragging me back in there.”

And it’s not like Steve is going to disagree, he’s admittedly had his problems with being lonely, and he’s got his own reasons for why Hargrove might just be the best company he could make right about now.

Still, because it’s their thing, he gives him a hard time all the same.

“We were enemies when I walked into that church. Why should I do anything for you?”

“‘Cause we’re both two out of place fuck ups in the very back of the house of God. And we both know you’re too soft to hold a grudge anyways. Since I decided to forgive you, the way I see it, we might as well have never met ‘til tonight. Perfect meeting, perfect reason to help out.” Billy explains it, again like he’s fixing himself to be a real genius, but Steve’s skeptical of how easygoing he is.

Those shaking hands don’t go unnoticed from him. Or the scratchy, high pitched lilt that trails after each word Billy speaks.

Steve is more than willing to move past the fight at this point, but there’s something that may or may not even have anything to even do with Hargrove himself, that stops him from just letting them be close like that. Something that Steve has kept a secret his whole life.

Something like a boy crush.

It’s not even Billy’s fault that he pushes back against this friendship, preventative measures for the future. Steve talks dismissively. “Nah, I don’t know man. I think you’d prefer it if my first impression of you wasn’t formed right now.”

Billy doesn’t even look at him, “Fucking rude, Harrington.”

“Dude, you reek like booze and old cologne. You’ve got that nasty bruise on your face and I can tell from the way you’re acting there’s more. You’re a disaster all around.” And maybe Steve was a little harsh, but he's almost offended by the way everything Billy stands for directly goes against the image of him he’d built in his head.

The kid he’s talking to now is nowhere near the same douche that he thought for sure was going to kill him. Not to say he’s a sweetheart, but Steve doesn’t even know why he thought Billy was such hot shit.

Probably something about fantasy. Attraction versus adrenaline and all that.

Billy himself isn’t in the least bit offended though, and Steve can tell that’s only because he’s reading him and his attempt at playing Billy’s game like a book.

There’s a smirk that just barely plays at the corner of his mouth, at least the side without any injuries, the dead giveaway of his clarity, “Well then. What was your first first impression of me like? What makes it so special?”

“I don’t know man. You looked intimidating I guess. Glared at everyone in that parking lot like you already owned the place. And you were a thousand times more put together. Before you were just pretending to be all rough, a hoser by definition, but now you’re really a mess.” Steve is rambling again, trying his damndest to not say the part out loud where him and Carol Perkins had been gossiping about how Hargrove’s ass looked in those jeans.

His genuine first impression a hell of a lot more confusing and even worse to admire to a bully than the way he sums it up.

“Damn. And here my first impression of you was that you were a prissy little thing just like Wheeler sitting right next to you in your fancy rich boy car. Here I thought you saw yourself as better than me.” The tone of Billy’s voice sounds almost impressed, actually looking over to Steve in the driver's seat.

His face is so analytical, so smugly uncalled for. Like pure satisfaction, because he cracked the goddamn code, “But no, I get it now. Pretty boy had himself a crush. Still does too.”

Steve almost slams on his brakes.

“Hold on. I never said anything like that.” He denies it outright, because it is true. There’s a swell of panic in his chest at the thought that he’s too obvious. Over who else might know.

Billy clarifies a little more, “But you don’t need your damn words to see it. This overly critical, hiding your feelings shtick. Probably learned that from your girl. Tearing me apart like your first thought wasn’t how fucking hot I am in three layers of acid wash.”

“Christ, where the hell did you even get an idea like that?” Steve acts bigger than he feels, at least he’s good at that, always has been.

“Lighten up. You think any old meathead’s gonna notice something like this that easy?” Billy waits for an answer but Steve can’t speak. The other rolls his eyes and continues, “I see through that shit ‘cause I’ve done it all too. Open your fucking eyes.”

Call him neurotic, but Steve is still skeptical, “No way. You’re talking about shit that doesn’t happen, Hargrove. It just doesnt! Whatever *this* is, it doesn’t have anything to do with me, alright?”

“You didn’t even ask my impression of you. I could tell you, about.. about the way I fell for every little freckle and dumb eyelash on your dopey face? I could fucking tell you but we’d probably still be here well into the new year if I did.”

Steve grips the wheel tighter, “No, Billy.. I mean it. If you’re pulling something on me... just save it for someone who wants to hear it.”

“I’m not though. Honest to God.” Billy tilts his head back against his seat and laughs at himself, the seriousness of the situation escaping him. He’s also fucking nervous, which Steve can see.

It makes him regard the next thing Billy says with at least a little more trust. All he wants is to have somebody like that. Billy smiles when he sees those walls coming down,

“Well, I guess two queers running away from Church on Christmas Eve probably shouldn’t swear on the big man like that, but you get what I’m sayin’, Harrington.”

Whether this was a bullying or a love confession, Steve wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, and it’s fucking confusing. He crinkles up with nose and eyebrows in an obvious puzzling expression, “I.. guess I do?”

“Aw, don’t go getting’ shy on me now, Harrington.” Billy snickers, finally shifting that piercing gaze away from Steve to the window beside him, asking in an unceremonious change of subject, “Where’re you taking me anyways?”

“Since you’re laying it on so damn thick all of the sudden, I figured I’d just take you back to my place.” Steve all but grumbles sarcastically, stressed from this conversation, from it being Christmas, from everything else going wrong in his life.

Billy at least can sense that, allowing the subject change to carry them in an almost casual conversation. Almost, if not for the overly flirtatious tone he takes on, “Sure. You got a present waitin’ there for me this Christmas?”

Steve’s face flushes and he can’t handle the heat. He shuts it down with a shrug of his shoulders, “Dude, I don’t even have a tree up at home. Best I can promise is what you were probably already hopin’ you’d get.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Wrapping paper that important to you? I can figure something out.”

Billy shakes his head; it’s his turn now to look at Steve like he’s lost his mind, “No. I was just fucking with you about a present. I meant about the tree.”

“Yeah, I didn’t decorate at all. But.. what’s that even matter?” Steve glances over at him, seeing the hurt behind that baffled expression and knowing instantly there’s something more there, another mystery about Billy Hargrove that will remain unsolved, because he turns the attention off of himself as quickly as that expression fades behind a new one of determination.

“Not gonna lie Harrington, I was totally down to blow you and just pretend the serious parts of this conversation never happened and never speak to each other again. I kinda thought that was the path we were going down here. But now that I know how deep this goes, and I’m invested in this shit way too much.”

“What does that even mean, Billy?”

“Means we’re skipping all the sex bullshit and we’re gonna light your goddamn candle. And do every other thing on your list of failures this year. You know, since you’re totally head over heels in love with me, it’s my job to give you your Merry Christmas.” Billy explains it like he’s got it all planned out perfectly. Like he’s some kind of genius.

Steve rolls his eyes, mostly because it hides how easily flustered he is by Billy’s proclamations, “Oh come on. It’s not like that..”

“What? You’re having a hard time this year, for obvious fucking reason- did I mention I already hate your parents?”

“Billy.” Steve warns, not ready to sidetrack another topic to talk about something that will only make him depressed. It’s not as easy for him to hate his parents as it is for him to hate Billy’s.

Billy nods in unspoken understanding and goes back to his point, “All I’m saying is, the point of havin’ someone like me around, is to make shit better. Right?”

“I don’t know man, since I seem to remember the last time I tried to help you first, you told me you weren’t a charity case and to never bother you again..”

Steve never forgot that attempt, even after everything that went down between them. It was just one time, in the showers after their way too high contact game of basketball. The angry red belt scars on Billy’s back caught his attention and he’d brought it up, only to be shut down.

There was always a sick, guilty feeling in his stomach about never trying again after that.

“If you’d just quit bein’ so stubborn, we got lots of shit to get done tonight. No time for self-deprivation.” Billy remarks casually though, unbothered by Steve’s worries. He even adds with an over exaggerated wink, “Maybe I’ll throw in that present I promised you once you start cheering up.”

~~~

The Harrington house does end up shining brightly that night.

Just as Billy promised, they stayed up all night doing everything they wanted to, no imposed rules or familial traditions involved, no triggers of past Christmases that neither were quite ready to share yet on display.

They don’t bother fishing out the huge eight foot synthetic tree Mrs. Harrington insisted on having to show off, the monstrous thing just there to collect dust in the basement now. They find a smaller one instead, an old fiber-optic tree Steve used to keep up in his room as a kid, his way of sneaking a nightlight past Mr. Harrington’s strict rules for his boy.

The tree is proudly displayed on a side table pushed over to the front window, and decorated with only homemade ornaments. Billy “accidentally” dropped a few of the fancy collector ornaments that used to force Steve’s own childhood creations off.

His mother was obsessed with making everything look straight out of a catalog, but the simple and childish decor was enough for Billy and Steve, without the additional twenty strings of lights in every corner of the house, or the poinsettias and crystal nativities adorning every available surface in the house. That was all a headache.

They light the bayberry candle too, putting it on a fancy dish at the center of the coffee table, not in the fancy sconces he’d have to scrape wax out of later. Billy pretends about a thousand times he’s going to blow it out just to fuck with Steve, earning him equally as many lectures on the bad luck and death and pestilence he’s bringing upon them.

Really that’s the dynamic they have the whole night; Steve flutters around his house an absolute nervous wreck, Billy just tailing after him to remind him that whatever they want to do.

It’s actually fun this once, behaving in a way not for appearances or hollow celebrations. Billy understands making Christmas special, personal. He’s someone who gets maybe one present per year and can’t afford any decorations but generations old glassware and yard sale blow molds.

Steve admittedly wasn’t really expecting to solve so many of his troubles in one go, especially not with help from Billy, who he thought was supposed to hate him after everything. But Billy just makes it so easy to like him, once Steve got the handle on understanding him.

He even got to see that gentle side of him open up. When Steve tangled himself up in tinsel and started to panic, and Billy had to remind him everything would be fine, he got to see it up close. The delicate concern in Billy’s eyes. The softness in his voice.

Okay, and maybe they shared one or two kisses under conveniently placed mistletoes Billy claims to not know the origin of.

He wasn’t all sunshine though, instead of just telling Steve that a Christmas angel or the hard to display window wreaths didn’t need a place in their festivities, he’d taken to literally smacking whatever was troubling Steve out of his hands and making him go do something else while it was put away.

In the end they still don’t do a lot of the things Steve normally would, most things really, but he realizes at some point, after baking a batch of cookies at about three in the morning, both of them wearing his Ima’s glittery aprons, that this isn’t about all that anyways.

What he and Billy started, this Christmas Eve, was a new tradition, one which didn’t rely on expectations, or keeping up with everything everyone ever asked him to do.

All of this was about doing something new, something they hadn’t up to this point been able to call their own for countless unhappy reasons they pledged not to talk about until at least the day after Christmas. Neither saw any need to dampen the cheer they did find this special holiday, all on their own.

Once everything’s sort of wound down, Steve’s head is all fuzzy with a buzz from the cheap alcohol Billy had convinced him to put into the generic gallon of eggnog he had about to expire in his fridge. Billy has a blushing face and a finally relaxed posture.

The both of them are sitting under their tiny tree for reasons neither can remember. Somewhere down the line, they started holding hands.

Steve asks, mostly as a lighthearted comment he doesn’t really expect an answer to, “So, I guess you’re gonna come over for Christmas every year now, huh?”

Billy looks to him and scrunches his nose up, emphasized by the way his face is pink, his smile turns bright and lopsided, the way it looks when he really means it, “Are you kidding me, Stevie? I’m coming over here every goddamn day if I can.”

[thelandboundseawitch]

🦌Yule & Christmas��

Yule is a sabbat which celebrates the winter solstice. It's a celebration of home and loved ones. It is a time to reflect and look forward to the days getting longer once again. Decorating trees and feasting with friends and family are common Yuletide traditions. Yule is celebrated by many on December 21st, though it varies by individuals.

Activities

Decorate a tree, pinecone, or houseplant

Drink hot chocolate

Bake desserts

Burn a Yule log or sit by the fireplace

Host a feast for family and friends

Feed animals

Donate(toys, clothing, etc.) to those in need

Do snow activities(making snowmen, snow angels, etc.)

Altar Decorations

Pinecones

Poinsettias

Candles

Fake Snow

Garland

Ornaments

Yule Log

Ribbon

Bells

Wreaths

Holly Berries

Animals

Deer

Dove

Buffalo

Wolf

Squirrels

Bears

Colors

Red

Green

White

Gold

Silver

Crystals

Bloodstone

Cat's Eye

Citrine

Ruby

Garnet

Emeralds

Deities

Apollo

Jesus

Demeter

Artemis

Diana

Virgin Mary

Flowers

Chamomile

Poinsettias

Food

Roasted Meat

Bread

Squash

Eggnog

Soup

Fruit Cake

Nuts

Beer

Spiced Cider and Wassail

Gingerbread

Hot Chocolate

Incense and Oils

Frankincense

Myrrh

Bayberry

Cedar

Pine

Cinnamon

Juniper

Orange

Clove

Plants & Herbs

Frankincense

Rosemary

Sage

Bay

Evergreen

Myrrh

Mistletoe

Pine

Oak

Ginger

Star Anise

Spells and Rituals

Yule is an excellent time to cast spells to promote happiness, prosperity, and healing. These are a way to rein in the winter solstice and celebrate the beginning of longer days.

Final Notes

Write sigils on the inside of wrapping paper

[witchyfashion]

An around-the-world tour of ancient Christmas celebrations, Pagan Solstice customs, and magical seasonal plants • Explores in depth the medicinal and magical properties of the many herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and Yuletide season • Looks at the origins of the Christmas tree and Santa Claus, as well as female gift bringers, holiday Spirits, and Yuletide animals • Shares crafts such as how to make a Yule Log, practices such as Winter Solstice divinations, and recipes for traditional foods and drinks For millennia cultures have taken time out to honor the darkest days of the year with lights, foods, and festivities. In ancient Egypt, people decorated their homes with greenery at the festival of the rebirth of the God Horus. The ancient Romans shared gifts, especially candles, at the midwinter festival of Saturnalia. In Scandinavian and Germanic cultures, the Yule Log was burned in the hearth, fruit orchards were wassailed, and sheaves of wheat were displayed to carry luck into the New Year. In Celtic cultures, mummers and guisers went door to door, and European mistletoe (Viscum album) was gathered by Druids as a medicinal and magical aid. Ellen Evert Hopman shares folklore, recipes, rituals, and crafts to enliven your Yuletide observance. She explores the origins of the Christmas tree and Santa Claus as well as holiday Spirits and Yuletide animals. She explains how to perform Winter Solstice divinations and make traditional foods and drinks such as Elizabethan gingerbread cookies and Wassail. And she looks in depth at the medicinal and magical properties of the many herbs, barks, and berries associated with the Christmas and Yuletide season such as Frankincense and Myrrh, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Hibiscus, Bayberry, and many more. This guide offers practical and magical ways to celebrate and honor the darkest days of the year.

https://amzn.to/3uf5y1C

[vanilla-cigarillos]

Yule Info Post

Probably one of the most well known Sabbats (up there with Samhain), Yule is typically known as being very similar to the widely celebrated Christmas holiday. In this post I want to go over the history and common traditions often celebrated with Yule!

History

Yule marks the journey of the Sun King to bring light into the world. The following days would gradually become longer as the Sun King made his journey across the sky. Due to this, candles and fire play an important role in Yule traditions.

The pre-Christian festival originated in Scandinavia and was later subsumed, into the Christian holiday of Christmas. Although the roots of this festival can be very difficult to track due to the ancient longevity of the festival, it is typically assumed that Yule began as the festival of “jol” in Norse culture.

Celebrations

In the Northern Hemisphere, Yule is observed during December 21–22 ; while in the Southern Hemisphere it is celebrated June 20–21.

Common Yule Symbols -  Colors: Green, gold, silver, red

Foods: Cookies, dried fruits and nuts, ginger tea, spiced cider, cinnamon treats  

Herbs: Bayberry, evergreen, frankincense, holly, pine, sage

Flowers: Calendula, sunflowers, wild ginseng, wormwood

Deities: Horned God, Orsis, Loki, Persephone, Dionysus

For those who practice the Wiccan religion, Yule is the second Sabbat of the Wheel of the Year. As such, the holiday is marked with rituals to welcome the return of the Sun. Others who participate in Celtic beliefs mark the holiday with reenactments of the battle between the Holly King (representing darkness) and the Oak King.

Common traditions include feasts, bonfires, exchanging gifts, and baking winter-festive treats. 

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

Hallmark Publishing - Complete Book List (and all their covers)

Hallmark Publishing - Complete Book List 

Journey Back to Christmas by Leigh Duncan (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - October 17, 2017

Christmas in Homestead by Kara Tate (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - October 24, 2017 

Love You Like Christmas by Keri F. Sweet (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - October 30, 2017 

A Heavenly Christmas by Rhonda Merwarth (Based on the Hallmark Hall of Fame Original Movie) - November 7, 2017 

Dash of Love by Liz Isaacson (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - December 26, 2017 

Moonlight in Vermont by Kacy Cross (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - January 2, 2018

Love Locks by Cory Martin (Based on the Hallmark Hall of Fame Original Movie) - February 20, 2018 

The Perfect Catch by Cassidy Carter (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - March 27, 2018 

Like Cats & Dogs by Alexis Stanton (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - April 17, 2018 

Dater’s Handbook by Cara Lockwood (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - May 15, 2018 

A Christmas to Remember by Rebecca Moesta (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - June 26, 2018 

Christmas in Evergreen by Nancy Naigle (Book 1) (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - July 10, 2018

A Country Wedding by Leigh Duncan (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - July 24, 2018 

Sunrise Cabin by Stacey Donovan - September 16, 2018 

The Christmas Company by Alys Murray - October 16, 2018 

A Timeless Christmas by Alexis Stanton (Made into a Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - October 21, 2018 

October Kiss by Kristen Ethridge (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - August 21, 2018 

At the Heart of Christmas by Jill Monroe - November 6, 2018 

The Secret Ingredient by Nancy Naigle (Made into a Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - February 12, 2019 

Love on Location by Cassidy Carter - March 12, 2019 

Beach Wedding Weekend by Rachel Magee - May 15, 2019 

Love at the Shore by Teri Wilson (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - June 11, 2019 

A Down Home Christmas by Liz Talley - July 2, 2019 

Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa by Nancy Naigle (Book 2) (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - July 16, 2019

Out of the Picture: A Shepherd Sisters Mystery by Tracy Gardner (Book 1) - September 3, 2019 

A Royal Christmas Wish by Lizzie Shane - September 10, 2019 

A Gingerbread Romance by Lacey Baker (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - September 17, 2019 

An Unforgettable Christmas by Ginny Baird - September 24, 2019 

Wrapped Up in Christmas by Janice Lynn (Book 1) - October 1, 2019 

Love by Chance by Kacy Cross (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - December 26, 2019 

The Game Changer: A Parkwood Mystery by Jennifer Brown (Book 1) - January 7, 2020 

Country Hearts by Cindi Madsen - January 20, 2020 

The Story of Us by Teri Wilson (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - February 4, 2020 

A Simple Wedding: A Heart’s Landing Novel by Leigh Duncan (Book 1) - March 10, 2020 

In Other Words, Love by Shirley Jump - April 21, 2020 

A Cottage Wedding: A Heart’s Landing Novel by Leigh Duncan (Book 2) - June 2, 2020 

Christmas in Bayberry by Jennifer Faye - July 7, 2020 

Sailing at Sunset by Cindi Madsen - July 21, 2020 

Behind the Frame: A Shepherd Sisters Mystery by Tracy Gardner (Book 2) - August 11, 2020 

Dead-End Detective: A Piper & Porter Mystery by Amanda Flower (Book 1) - August 25, 2020 

Christmas Charms by Teri Wilson - October 6, 2020

Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy by Janice Lynn (Book 2) - October 27, 2020 

Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy by Nancy Naigle (Book 3) (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - November 3, 2020

Rescuing Harman Ranch by Jennie Marts - February 23, 2021 

Murder by Page One: A Peach Coast Library Mystery by Olivia Matthews (Book 1) - March 23, 2021 

A Waterfront Wedding: A Heart’s Landing Novel by Leigh Duncan (Book 3) - April 20, 2021 

Wedding in the Pines by Cassidy Carter - May 4, 2021 

South Beach Love by Caridad Pineiro (Made into a Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - May 25, 2021 

Once Upon A Royal Summer by Teri Wilson - June 15, 2021 

Sweet Tea by Piper Huguley - July 13, 2021 

An Amish Flower Farm by Mindy Steele - July 27, 2021 

Still Life and Death: A Shepherd Sisters Mystery by Tracy Gardner (Book 3) - August 10, 2021 

On Christmas Avenue by Ginny Baird - September 21, 2021 

Mistletoe in Juneau by Dahlia Rose - October 19, 2021 

Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope by Janice Lynn (Book 3) - October 26, 2021

Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing by Lacey Baker (Based on the Hallmark Channel Original Movie) - November 2, 2021 

Cowboy Ever After by Jennie Marts - June 28, 2022 

The Beach Escape by Rachel Magee  - August 9, 2022 

Murder Out of Character: A Peach Coast Library Mystery by Olivia Matthews (Book 2) - September 13, 2022 

Once Upon A Royal Christmas by Teri Wilson - November 1, 2022 

Christmas at the Amish Market by Shelly Shepard Gray - November 8, 2022 

Frozen Detective: A Piper & Parker Mystery by Amanda Flower (Book 2) - December 6, 2022 

Sweeter Than Chocolate by Lizzie Shane - January 17, 2023 (Made into a Hallmark Channel Original Movie)

[eregyrn-falls]

While I'm in MA now, I have a tale of the Jersey shore that is applicable here.

My family had a house on a barrier island, 3rd down from the beach/dunes. When my brother was a kid in the early 60s, there's a home movie of him sitting on the porch steps, with my dad standing out in the street filming. And my dad just pans to the left, no tilt at all, and it is a flat view right onto the beach. There were practically no dunes to speak of.

Not that long after that, I guess, that particular town decided, hey, we should probably have dunes. (There was a huge nor'easter that did a lot of damage to the island, in '62, so that was probably the impetus.) And getting dunes back took DECADES.

Because exactly as the tags quoted above say: you can't just DUMP SAND in a big pile and call it a dune. That's not what a dune is.

I'm 10 years younger than my brother. When I was a kid, we already had SOME dunes; I played on them. There was dune-grass on them, and I remember it was so hard to pull up dune grass because its roots were SO LONG and went everywhere. Make note of that. I remember years and years worth of the town asking everyone to put out their old Christmas trees, which they would collect, even getting some from the mainland, to dump on the dunes. (They'd help catch sand, and they'd break down eventually.) My mom volunteered with groups that would go out planting dune-grass. I think they brought in and planted scrub pine and bayberry as well (or whatever it is that was native to the island, in larger remnants of untouched dunes to the north).

By the time I was an adult, the dunes were higher than the roof of our 1-story 1920s shotgun house.

We rode a hurricane out in that house in the mid-70s. There was a big cliff at the end of the walkway down onto the beach, where the ocean had dragged out a lot of the beach; but it didn't wipe out the dunes. In Hurricane Sandy, my mother had to evacuate, but it didn't cause any damage to any of the homes in our town at all; and the dunes weren't all that damaged, either. They're still there. (A lot of the other towns on the island, who hadn't had the foresight to begin dune-building, were not so lucky during Sandy.)

We'd never had any ocean view in my lifetime. Bigger houses were built between us and the dunes, and architecture adapted. Every new house had to be up on pilings a story high, and then you could have a couple of stories of house. You'd put the living room and stuff up on the topmost floor, because only from there could you see the ocean.

So yeah, you can build back dunes on barrier islands. But you have to be patient, your game-plan is probably going to extend for a generation. You don't dump sand at all. You plant stuff, maybe you dump some biodegradable stuff to catch the sand, you put in dune fencing, and then largely you wait for the blowing sand and years' worth of winters to deposit it, and years' worth of roots to anchor it. And if you build dunes that way, they are shockingly resilient to even the worst storms.

I wonder if anyone tried to tell these people about all this, and they didn't want to hear it.

I've see the dunes on the Massachusetts coast. They are ENORMOUS. Tallest dunes I've ever seen, and often very wide, as well. You could probably get dunes like that back, with 30 or 40 years of work, in the places they've been removed to build homes like this. It's way too late for these homes, though.

absolutely losing my mind that a bunch of nimby assholes spent $500k to build a sandcastle that was promptly wiped away

[juliebrost]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Vintage 1993 Christmas Collection Longaberger Bayberry Basket Plaid Fabric Plast.

[tatyanab66]

Gnome's Christmas Candy 🍬 Soap will be a part of Party Favors🎉 and Thank You Gift 🎁 this Holiday Season 🎄Scented with 🍬Cane,Fraser Fir,and Bayberry notes 🎄😌 #holidaygifts #holidayseason #christmasgifts #Soap #partyfavors #candycane #simplyherbaldelight #lovegnomes #christmas #holidayvibes #handmade

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Simply Herbal Delight Soap 🌿🍀 (@simplyherbaldelightsoap)

[bitchencrafter]

Check out Vintage Festive Fragrant Scented Bayberry Christmas Hanging Ornament Wreath https://www.ebay.com/itm/256718608722?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OL-SUahpQbW&sssrc=0&ssuid=OL-SUahpQbW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=TW #eBay via @eBay #Christmas #wreath #ornament #Bayberry #vintage #oldcrowstreasures247

[bhbcas]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: 1993 Longaberger Christmas Collection Bayberry Basket in Green with Protector.

[veronica-ag]

Home Fragrance Empties 2023

Candles - 19 - $244.98 Aldi Caramel & Ginger Cookie - $1.60 Aldi Firewood - $1.60 Aldi Freesia & Pear - $1.60 Aldi Smoke & Cedar Mini Candle - $1.60 Aldi Snowdrops - $1.60 Avon Fireside - $25 BBW Fresh Balsam Mini - $4.50 BBW Maple Cinnamon Pancakes - $22.50 BBW Peach Meringue - $22.50 BBW Vanilla Snowflake - $22.50 BBW Welcome Home - $14.50 BBW Winter - $22.50 Homemade Cotton Candy Candy Cane - $2 Pourri  Grapefruit Orange Zest - $14.99 Wishes Candy Cauldron - $19 Wishes Life’s Bare Necessities - $19 Yankee Candle Chocolate - $27.99 Yankee Candle Honey Lavender Gelato - $10 Yankee Candle Macintosh - $10 Wax Melts - 50 - $235.62 BBW Mango Mai Tai - $4.50 BBW Sun-Washed Citrus - $4.50 Scentsationals Apple Pumpkin Donuts - $2 Scentsationals Caramel Apple Spice -$2 Scentsationals Cider House Donuts - $2 Scentsationals Cotton Candy Cloud - $2 Scentsationals Pumpkin Cider - $2 Scentsy Angel Experimeny 624 - $6.50 Scentsy Bananarama - $6 Scentsy Bayberry & Currant - $6 Scentsy Best In Snow - $6 Scentsy Black Currant Bubbly - $6 Scentsy Blue Christmas - $6 Scentsy Caramel Pear Crisp - $6 Scentsy Disney Season Of Magic - $6.50 Scentsy First-Kiss Fireworks - $6 Scentsy Gryffindor - $6.50 Scentsy Halloween Town - $6.50 Scentsy Hawaiian Paradise - $6 Scentsy Hufflepuff - $6.50 Scentsy Jack’s Obsession - $6.50 Scentsy Just Keep Swimming - $6.50 Scentsy Orange Dreamsicle - $6 Scentsy Pacific Mist - $1.50 Scentsy Red Berry & Spruce - $6 Scentsy Root Beer Float - $6 Scentsy Shoreline Drive - $6 Scentsy Stitch Experiment 626 - $6.50 Scentsy Sugar & Spice - $6 Scentsy Sunburst Bamboo - $6 Scentsy Together 4 Ever - $6 Scentsy Twitterpated - $6.50 Scentsy Watermelon Patch - $6 Supertarts Alien - $4.25 Supertarts Beth - $4.25 Supertarts Bellatrix - $4.25 Supertarts Cedric - $4.25 Supertarts Children Of The Corn - $2.37 Supertarts Doubloons - $3.31 Supertarts Friday The 13th - $2.37 Supertarts Lady Rainicorn - $4.25 Supertarts Leonardo - $4.25 Supertarts Let’s Get Fizzical - $4.70 Supertarts Linda - $4.25 Supertarts Son Of Hermes - $4.25 Supertarts SPK - $4.25 Supertarts Stocking Stuffers - $1 Supertarts Texas Chainsaw - $2.37 Supertarts Tina - $4.25 Supertarts Voldemort - $4.25 Wallflowers - 14 - $95 BBW Energy Orange Ginger - $6.50 BBW Eucalyptus Mint - $6.50 BBW Hawaiian Hibiscus - $6.50 BBW Honeysuckle - $6.50 BBW Mango Coconut Cooler - $6.50 BBW Pink Pineapple Sunrise - $7.50 BBW Pumpkin Apple - $6.50 BBW Renew & Refresh - $6.50 BBW Sangria Berry Freeze - $6.50 BBW Sparkling Limeade - $6.50 BBW Tis The Season - $7.50 BBW Winter Candy Apple - $6.50 Yankee Candle Black Tea & Lemon Scent Plug - $7.50 Yankee Candle White Strawberry Bellini Scent Plug - $7.50 Mixology Trios - 0 - $6 per trio

-

Other - 14 - $77.77 AJs Coffee Car Freshener - $2 AJs Fruit Rush Car Freshener - $2 BBW Iced Dragonfruit Tea Car Refill - $4.95 BBW Spiced Apple Toddy - $4 BBW Strawberry Poundcake Car Refill - $4.95 Scentsy Air Of Adventure Scent Pak - $7.50 Scentsy Autumn Road Trip Pods - $10 Scentsy Dark Side Of The Force Scent Pak - $7.50 Scentsy Joy & Wonder Pods - $10 Scentsy Radiator Springs Scent Circle - $3.25 Scentsy Radiator Springs Scent Circle - $3.25 Scentsy Sea Salt & Avocado Pods - $10 Supertarts Gremlins Room Spray - $2.37 Yankee Candle Black Cherry Car Vent Sticks - $6

Empties: 98 $ Value - $605.87

[martha-laurens-official]

What is a family tradition you still practice today?

Lighting a bayberry candle for Christmas and the new year

[hollyevolving]

Pure bayberry candle burning for Christmas Eve, plus its reflection in one of my work monitors. I have another for New Year's Eve.