I was going to greet people today using the phrase, "the Ides of December," but strictly speaking that was Monday. The Roman calendar is too complicated for a simple creature like me. Give me the nice, straight forward calendar--Thirty days hath...and so forth. Easy, simple, streamlined for today's society. Much like Daylight Saving Time. And pounds and ounces, feet and inches, and hours, minutes and seconds. Mother Nature started it (365 days+ in a year) but, by golly, we sure know how to clarify a complex system to finish it off.

This is the dark time of the year, when we turn to lights and fires and hot chocolate to hold back the demons of winter. Yep, and here in Southern California we have Santa Ana winds today, high winds with high temperatures in the 80's. Stuff will just not stay in the proper categories so that I can pontificate properly. Drat.

Still, though, the nights are dark and clear and cold. Orion is riding high in the sky at this time of year. My first 24 hours in India, I kept thinking, "Where am I? What have I done?" But then, lying down on my 3rd class train bench seat and looking up through the dusty windows, I saw Orion, and I knew where I was and felt oddly comforted. Same old earth, same dark night sky. Now when I go out at night, I nod to Orion. He's an old friend.