The Groundhog Party 2019: A Summoning of Spring, was a huge success. We had a new winner of pin the shadow on the groundhog, the groundhog apple pie in cheddar crust was as delicious as ever* (and there was enough food that I we had leftovers for breakfast), clouds wafted from the punch, and we twirled fire.
For the 26th year of groundhog parties (the first was in Boulder in 1994), a dear friend drove down from Kansas, we baked gorgeous pies, and we added witchiness to the celebration. At first the witchiness felt a bit forced-- what can we do to end witch year with a party? And then I started reading about pagan sabbats and investigating Imbolc and suddenly it all made so much sense because the Groundhog Party has always been a pagan celebration of the coming of spring. This year we added extra flowers, made the pies extra sunny (traditional Imbolc foods are wheat and round and golden), lit candles throughout the house, and burned away the greens of winter (in this case adding some kerosene to a giant sedge I had brought home from work).
It was a great party. I don't think anyone resented that I made them make name tags and did formal introductions because it led to guests meeting other guests and actually talking. People asked for pie recipes. We started making plans for practice sessions with the fire torches so that more people will want to pull them out next year. At church this morning, three weeks after the party, a man went out of his way to thank me for inviting him.
I'm writing this to remind you (and myself of the future) that people are longing to celebrate. It doesn't take a witch to bring people together for frivolity and good food, but the synergy can make magic.
 |
| JMM with Shaker Blood Orange Pie |
 |
| Welcome of witches, hedgehogs, and seasonal guessing game |
 |
| Shaker Lemon: J.M. Moody Photo |
 |
| Flowers! |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment