The twelve of us at Alewife Reservation between Cambridge and Belmont came together from Cambridge, Arlington and Jamaica Plain to start the 8th Friends of Alewife Solstice celebration a week early from the actual seasonal Solstice of longest night of the year. An introduction of one another launched a candled circle, Salutations were bestowed on the winter spirits and the guardians of the silver maples that have been with us for so long! Four direction calls came from each one's experience, i.e. where the sun was warming, the waters flowing, the wind blowing and woodlands standing.

I know some of the Alewife hawks' folks who have followed a nesting pair for years, but this Ceremony and ritual from native and pagan scripts, guided by' Maya Apfelbaum and Ellen Mass of FAR and a young boy in animal costume who played a flute. People danced and chanted "Oh Great Spirit; Earth sun, sky and sea; You are Inside, And all around me."

Suddenly some one pointed to the trees by Little River. Silhouetted against the sun in an overhead tree, and watching the ceremony, was a large 'red tail hawk' (see attached). I ran to the tree side and started taking photos capturing one as he flew off . I think this is a young hawk I have followed the past two or three years from the couple nesting at 185 Alewife Brook Parkway. Congratulations to those who came out on a cold winter Saturday before Christmas to celebrate the beauty of nature.