It’s winter solstice, the shortest day/longest night of the year. We took pains to consider this time of year when we were planning our house remodel, as we have the blessing of full southern exposure for our home, something we intend to take full advantage of. Passive solar design principles measure the angle of the sun at summer and winter solstice for your latitude with the idea of allowing the sun to reach into the house and touch a heat-sink (in our case, the slab of concrete that is our floor) to help warm it up when warming is needed. In the summer, there is an awning (in our case, an overhanging balcony that runs the length of the house) that blocks the sun from touching the floor at all when heat is unwelcome. As you can see, at winter solstice, the sun reaches all the way to the back wall of our new construction. There will be a bit more front wall to block some of that so the sun will be coming through six panels of sliding glass door instead of just streaming through open space, but still– it will get pretty far! Fun to see it in action.

Along with solstice, of course, the holidays. We only have room for a tiny little tree this year, but look how cute it is!

I’m skipping the hard-copy end of year card this year, just one of many small things I’ve let go of to make life a little more manageable as we live in this transitional state. Let this blog entry suffice, and maybe we’ll be more traditional next year.

If you have been following this blog at all, you know what we have been up to in the home realm. That is pretty much what Morgan has been doing. He sold his share of the Applied Ecology business to one of his parters, stopped taking other people’s projects on in April, and has been dedicating his time to building us a nice new home ever since.

In September, I moved my bodywork practice for the first time in 21 years. The prospect was unwelcome, but the actual move went well and I am enjoying my new space in the SODO district of Seattle. My practice has not suffered significantly, but there is more breathing room in my schedule these days, so if you are needing bodywork you don’t need to wait two months to come and see me. I kind of like that.

Huck has been taking film making classes at the Northwest Film Forum in addition to his regular Kung-Fu schedule. He achieved double-digit status in August (10 years! OMG!) and is in the 5th and final elementary grade, at Orca K8. He plays the trombone in the band at school, loves to read, and hates homework. He seems to be rolling with the big house changes pretty well, though he can’t understand what was wrong with our house to begin with.

Here’s a family pic from my sister Ella’s wedding at Deception Pass State Park in August:

This year has been a huge step forward for us. We are glad to have moved from the realm of planning into the realm of doing. Despite the disturbance and the awkwardness and all the rest, it feels really good to be moving forward, however slowly. We feel really lucky to have the opportunity to do this, and are enjoying the encouragement and support from you all while we do.

We wish you and yours the very best this holiday season and into the bright new year!