Lights Aglow by Helen Henderson

Windmaster Legend by Helen Henderson

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For the upteenth time, I'm changing my mind about this month's post. I wanted something dealing with traditions, but everything I came up with has changed. There are the unofficial traditions such as raking leaves before Thanksgiving dinner, or watching the Tournament of Roses or Macy's Thanksgiving parades. Football games on television or at the local high school field fulfilled those interests; while some of us preferred the National Dog Show. My Scotch blood cheered when the Scottish Deerhound won best in show even as my sentimenal side had rooted for the collie to win.

In disclosure:
Bumps was not an award-winning collie,
but he did have a way of herding sheep and children on my childhood farm.
After hours of brushing, there are no burrs in his coat.

The gatherings of 20 people from our various family households were reduced to those who live under the one roof. During those larger gatherings, I was in charge of the children's table. And yes, it was a table set aside just for the younger members who ranged in age from 18 months or so to teens. A rite of passage was when you got to go from the picnic table and low benches to a real chair at the adult table.

Not saying things haven't changed before 2020. Locations for the holiday gatherings varied depending on the family's situation at the time. If someone had a newborn or young children, they were given the option to host or visit, whichever they thought was easiest for them. Other times we gathered at the home of the oldest member so that they wouldn't have to travel. Then when the time came, to avoid adding to the holiday emotions with those raised by an empty chair, we would gather up those who could no longer drive and take them with us. Over the years, seating has been on living room couches, around dining room tables (after we filled our plates buffet style in the kitchen ) or sitting on the steps leading to the upper floor. All meals were potluck with everyone contributing their specialty. And if someone couldn't cook anymore we made sure they felt like they were contributing even if they only brought the dinner rolls or a plate of cheese and crackers to nibble while visiting. However, for the majority of the years, the host household was chosen based on one thing-- who had the most room.

Image by Vuong Viet from Pixabay

In the dark days of winter, whether from white bulbs outlining the roof or covering trees and bushes, or luminaries lining sidewalks, lights help brighten moods and are a tradition onto themselves. In the spirit of reflection and giving thanks, a note about another tradition of lights, the lantern rising festival from Windmaster Legend. Inspiration came from two events, the lantern float held annually on Memorial Day on Oʻahu’s south shore and the sky lantern festival of Taiwan. In one, lanterns are set afloat on the water in a personal and collective moment of remembrance and offering of gratitude to those who have gone before. In the other, sky lanterns are released into the night sky with people's wishes written on them. The one sky lantern launch I’ve seen in person combined both water and sky. A grieving family sent a single lantern aloft over the water in memorial of a loved one’s passing. I couldn’t see if it bore handwritten wishes or if only a picture of the loved one was carried skyward.

The Windmaster Legend festival has several traditions related to it. Local residents wrote note on the lantern itself. Some were thanks for a profitable year, while others were prayers for the one to come. Many were poignant remembrances of loved ones who had passed beyond the veil. The lanterns were sent aloft from the decks of ships just offshore so that the breezes could take the lights skyward. A necessary item because a lantern that caught fire before reaching the clouds would never be fulfilled.

On a lighter note the lantern rising had another pertinent connection to one of our world's winter holiday tradition -- a stolen kiss beneath the mistletoe. In the land of the Windmaster Novels, whether onboard a ship out on Botunn Loghes or watching from the shore, when lanterns fill the sky, a man—or woman can claim a kiss from anyone they chose.

You’ll have to read Windmaster Legend to see if the tradition was followed … and which of the two men in Pelra's life was the recipient.

To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL

As this is my last post of the year, a special wish. In the upcoming year may your dreams come true, and you once again fall in love with reading. Helen

Find out more about me and my novels at Journey to Worlds of Imagination.
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Helen Henderson lives in western Tennessee with her husband. While she doesn’t have any pets in residence at the moment, she often visits a husky and a retriever who have adopted her as one of their pack.