Marking the Day in Your Garden

Waiting for dawn at Stonehenge on the Winter Solstice (photo: Wikimedia: Mike Peel, www.mikepeel.net)

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. Here we will have a mere 8 hours & 59 minutes of daylight, our shortest of the year, with the sun raising at 7:38 am and setting at 4:37 pm (source). This is almost 6 and half hours less sunlight than we see on the Summer Solstice.

Our ancient ancestors marked these days well for their very survival was dependent upon knowing times to plant, harvest, animal migrations, livestock birthing, or other seasonal observances and the solar clock was steady and unchanging in marking the year for them. Structures such as the 5,000 year old Newgrange in Ireland and the Temple of Amun in Karnak, Egypt mark the winter solstice. Other sites are scattered about the entire world from many different peoples and eras that mark the solstices, equinoxes, stars, lunar cycles and more.

You can welcome the sun into your garden and landscape as well with very simple materials and techniques creating your own solar wheel calendar.

Marking the Solstice in Your Garden

1. Pick a spot with an unobstructed view to the eastern horizon. A 360 view is even better as you can see and mark sunsets if you wish, but you at least want to see the rising sun.
2. Get a stake with a length of rope loosely attached. Length is your choice as it will be half the diameter of the finished wheel calendar.
3. Push the stake into the spot that will be the center.
4. Materials used are up to you - purchased pavers, found river stones, decorative stakes, or anything else that suits your tastes and garden. There is no right or wrong answer.
5. And the exact design is also up to you. You can use smaller stones to mark the circle's circumference by placing a stone at the end of the rope every couple of feet (or as needed) around the circle's edge. I personally only marked the solstices and equinoxes and did not create a full circle.
6. Use the same process to mark the solstice - the rope should point directly from the center reference point to the spot where the sun break's the horizon at dawn. Put a special marker there. You can repeat throughout the year for other key days so save your stake and rope.
7. I like to use a large flat stepping stone for the center point. Something I can stand or sit on to see the sun rise over my marker on my marked days. Move the stone as needed to mark or remark days.

If you expand out the idea, whole garden areas could be created and aligned in this manner. This is a great activity to share with young people.

Mythical Spotlight: Pan

One of the things you will quickly realize when looking at the statuary and other carved art pieces that grace the Sonnenberg Estate is that many characters are from the Classical Mythology of Ancient Greece and Rome. It is rather like a Greco-Roman mythology who's-who. Here is a quick spotlight of one of those characters that can be seen at Sonnenberg.

Pan
Location: Rock Garden
Type: Free-standing Statue
Mythology Origin: Ancient Greece

Description:
Pan was the god of wild places and the patron deity of shepherds. He is depicted in much the same manner as a faun with the hindquarters and horns of a goat. Pan's origins are unclear. Some tales say he is the son of Hermes while others point to Zeus or other gods. Pan was also associated with music and he was said to have created the syrinx or panpipes. (The Sonnenberg statue shows Pan holding a set of these pipes.) Being a pastoral god, natural caves and grottos instead of man-made temples are where people worshipped him. Pan is said to be the origin of the word panic due to his terror-inducing shouts.

More Info:
Pan (Wikipedia)
Pan (Ancient History)
Pan (Theoi)

Pan overlooking the Rock Garden
(Click on image to see a larger view)

Learning More About the Thompsons

Archivist and Board Member, Barbara Stahl, recently did the presentation titled For the Love of Gardens: the Artistry of Mary Clark Thompson at the Naples Library. The was recorded and is included below. Enjoy!

The Natural Connection

An early visit to Sonnenberg Gardens

In this world of ever-increasing technological dependence and proliferation, a necessary element and natural connection has vanished from too many of our young people's lives -- that is the contact and experience with Nature itself.

Numerous studies show that there are benefits to overall physical health as well as mental health and cognitive abilities in spending time in our natural, outdoor settings. No place is this more true than with our children. But sadly fewer and fewer children today are experiencing the joy and benefits of outdoor time. It is not, however, a difficult or impossible problem to solve.

My own children had outdoor experiences even before they could walk. They cooed and laughed at trees like they were telling the best joke in the world (true story) from strollers, arms, or blankets. When more mobile, they visited public gardens, playgrounds, and hiking trails on their own two legs. Over the years, they have helped in my vegetable gardens and they have played on swings. They raced along paths. They learned much botany and other natural sciences from me that has fanned the flame of their life-long love affair with science. They picked up colorful fall leaves and have built snowmen. They have hiked and fished. They have smelled the flowers. They have dug up fossils and skipped stones. They have learned to love and respect the natural world - which is so key to becoming good stewards of our planet.

A much later visit to Sonnenberg

My boys visited Sonnenberg Gardens initially from strollers. They quickly got mobile and absolutely loved the kid's adventure maps and scavenger hunts. They would race ahead looking for the next item to find. We brought picnic lunches and enjoyed them under shady boughs, even though we only lived a few minutes away. It was a great adventure. We enjoyed every minute of the time and made memories that are priceless.

Take your children outdoors. Share with them what you love about it. You don't have to go far as public parks and gardens are just around the corner.

Share the joy of being outdoors and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Victorians at Play

“Victorians at Play” will be presented by a panel of experts on the history of the Thompson family of
Sonnenberg during the late 1800s and early 1900s. For the past five years this panel, a group of historians and archivists, have studied and transcribed diaries, letters, ledgers, newspaper articles, and other relevant documents. This presentation will focus on popular recreational activities of Victorian times and how the Thompsons participated.  Known for their philanthropies, the Thompsons gifts to the community and beyond for recreation will be discussed. 

The panel thanks the Ontario County Historical Society and Sonnenberg Archives for access to their collections to unfold the Thompson story. 

The admission fee will help support the newly formed Education Committee of Sonnenberg which will provide for future programs.

Victorians at Play
May 30, 2015, 10 am - Noon
$10/general; $5/members
Call 585-394-4922 for reservations