A Solstice Review

It’s the Winter Solstice today. The shortest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere). And the point where the new solar year begins anew.

So here’s my review of the past solar quarters of 2023, from a personal perspective. There will be a quiz . . .

Solar Quarter 1 (Dec. 21 – March 20)

Things started off with a bang as I rushed to finish my last novel (El Norte) and publish it in time to give it a 2023 copyright date. I just made it on December 27. Then I gave myself a little break before beginning to think and plan the next one. But start I did.

And also kept myself busy with volunteering work on the new nearby disc golf course and joining in on the spring road cleanup we do on our six-mile-long country road.

And kept up with the family by Zooming with my German cousin now living in Costa Rica and doing regular Facetime chats with my aging mom, who had moved to assisted living a few months prior.

But everything stopped when my sister called with the dreaded news: my mother had passed away just before midnight on February 4. I was now parent-less.

Solar Quarter 2 (March 20 – June 21)

More bad news hit us when our pretty little Kitty died on March 28. But we picked ourselves up and kept moving on with the longer days and the time change (which I consider a ridiculous hold-over from times past).

A huge shift in positive attitude came with the opening of my local outdoor 50-meter swimming pool. For me, everything looks better from water level!

And I began cranking out scenes and chapters on the new novel. My goal was to write a scene a day, sometimes short, sometimes longer. But it was a routine I was fully engaged in: get up to make coffee and a mini-breakfast snack for me and Lynn > check any important emails and news > close my office door and write.

Solar Quarter 3 (June 21 – Sept. 23)

In addition to working on the new novel, I kept my creative juices flowing by sending out a weekly email newsletter—with photos and videos—to my swimming group. And also made time to be the volunteer photographer at a big disc golf tournament near me. And then created a YouTube video about it.

Two big milestone dates hit in this quarter: my 75th birthday in July and the birth of my grand nephew, Justin Duke, (to my sister’s daughter Kira and her husband Leo) in August. Which spurred me to update the family tree and ponder my spot in it. Nothing like close-to-home deaths and births to do that, eh?

Solar Quarter 4 (Sept. 23 – Dec. 21)

Here we are: Winter. And I was busy these past three months:

The outdoor pool closed on Sept. 30, and because I’m losing interest in swimming indoors, I transitioned to more disc golf playing around my local area. I’m not that good but am enjoying the heck out of it.

The movie option for my New York 1609 novel is still active but pushed back because of the writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood and New York. There’s no telling what’s going to happen with that option, but I’m certainly not sitting around doing nothing. I finished the first draft of the new novel and sent it off to my editor in late November. I’m now fixing and revising it. Although I’m running a little late, I’ll be releasing it in the new year. And in case you’re wondering, it’s a post-apocalyptic thriller that takes place many decades after a humanity-destroying asteroid strike. I won’t say more now, but here’s a sneak peek at a part of the book’s cover:

And I just wrapped up another personal creative project: a short video recapping my life connection to water, from early on. Having reached a certain age—75 orbits around the sun—I feel the pull to get some things down before I forget or before they’re lost to oblivion. And it might be something little Justin will enjoy watching when he’s old enough. About this crazy grand-uncle of his and his water-logged history. This is for you, Justin:

So Happy Winter Solstice! May your hearth always blaze with warmth, even on the shortest of days (from the Bard ;-).

— Harald