Long winter days and mulled wine

I love everything about the dark, still months, beginning with the darkness itself. In fall/winter, the archtypal Wild Woman - near and dear to our Still/Wild hearts, obviously - ushers in the darkness (just as she sings flesh onto the bones again in springtime). She is the Life/Death/Life force as Clarissa Pinkola Estes reminds us; the incubator. As such, she encourages us, during the cold months, to create warm spaces inside that are favorable to resting/developing. The cold months, we might say, are STILL, the hot months WILD.

For our part, we depend heavily on our wood burning fireplace. Honestly, we light a fire almost every night from November to April, beginning with our family's annual First Fire Night. Fires call for old friends and old stories and, of course, mulled wine, which Jimmy and I have in the crock pot all winter long. (Recipe below.) This table was set last December, when all the kids were home for the holidays. (We happen to celebrate Christmas at our house.) Those bowls would soon be full of roasted pumpkin soup...

Until next year, spring/summer. Hello again fall/winter!

Our favorite Mulled Wine recipe, minus the brandy. (Feel free to add it back in if you feel so led.) One bottle red wine, 4 cups apple cider/juice, 1/4 cup honey, 2 cinnamon sticks, 5 whole cloves, 4-5 cardamom pods, zest of one large orange, juice of one large orange. Put in all in the crock pot and enjoy! Warm, fragrant, comforting.