December is a dark month, sometimes a difficult one. Even though it’s chock-full of holidays of all sorts—Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Year’s, and more (not to mention Festivus!)—this month invites all kinds of dread. Some buy gifts and worry about how they’ll pay for them. Some look at the calendar and long to spend time with friends and family while some wish they didn’t have to. As the days grow shorter, darker, colder, anxieties grow.

From ancient times, however, there have been those who’ve seen this as a special time. The weaning daylight hours bring us to the Winter Solstice, the “shortest day” or “longest night” of the year. The solstice marks the point at which the days begin to lengthen again, bringing the promise of spring, of renewal, of a second chance.

If you’re like me, the punishing gray of winter is a chore. The season brings its particular joys—sledding with my family, dusting off my beloved sweater collection, the spectacularly crisp relief of a Minnesota sunrise over the frozen earth below—but the oppressive lack of pigment hurts. Ansel Adams’ photographs are a genius study in grays, but I prefer life in full color.

As we navigate the gray, the charcoal, and even the rough black of deepening December darkness, I’m looking for the light. Just like the dormant scaly brown tubers of my dahlias will sprout and yield dazzling hues, I know that December will yield to fresh green May and shimmering June. We wish you a peaceful end to this dark and difficult year, with quiet and confident hope for a brighter one to come. Happy holidays.