January
January on the coastline is cold and dreary. The typical weather conditions are foggy, rainy, and cold, making swimming in the oceans dangerous. Most Soq living around this coastline section moved inland during the winter months. Yet today, the coastline was crowded as everyone waited for the festivities to start. Today was a celebration throughout the Soq lands.
Many creatures throughout the Soq lands celebrated the changing year with unique traditions. Some inland Soq celebrated the new year by crafting beautiful garlands. The snowy inland conditions inspired many celebrations with festive colors. Often, the garlands were made of evergreen greens and decorated with colorful ribbons. The snowy conditions and cold temperatures ensured the garlands lasted through the first month. Often the garlands were hung on trees or outside the homes of soq and fams. Others acknowledged the new year by playing musical instruments or chanting sacred hymns. Some soq herds created and consumed celebratory food, which they feasted on throughout the holy night.
For Maui and many others who lived near the coastline, bonfires on the beach were a traditional celebratory event during the new year. Up and down the beach, the soft glow of bonfires was seen. Throughout the day, familiar and soq had worked hard to create firepits. As the sun sunk below the horizon, the first fires lit. Fire Ulun'suti throughout this section of the coastline lit the first embers. It was unknown how bonfires on the beach had become a New Year’s tradition. An older stallion had once told Maui it was a common celebratory tradition in the East to burn effigy figures carved from wood. Occasionally, beachgoers burned small wooden statues in the fires, which lent credence to the stallion’s words. Yet, Maui also thought the bonfires were initially set up out of necessity. Since the coastline, this time of the year tends to be cold and damp. It was typical for soq and fams to stay up throughout the night as they welcomed the new year, and the warmth the fires provided was necessary.
The air was still damp and chilly, but the night was evident today, and warmth near the bonfires took away most of winter's harshness. The bonfires were placed up the beach away from the ocean waves. Yet despite the typical strength of the ocean waves today, the ocean seemed to be mellow as it remained low tide throughout the night. The storms of the previous month were not apparent inside the ocean appeared tranquil like a lazy feline familiar.
Since New Year bonfires on the coastline were a whole night affair many soq brought food. Many soq families and fans shared their meals with strangers as good feeling and friendliness flourished throughout the event. Beach dwellers were typically easy-going soq and rarely did soq focus on herd affiliation. In general, few fights broke out over resources as resources were abundant during the warmer months, and most souqs moved inland during the winter. Beach soq in general realized the true power of the coastline was the ocean, and since competitiveness was relatively low soq were generally sociable. Yet, because of the festive air soq were especially friendly to each other.
The excitement of all the individuals on the beach was tangible. This year, the New Year’s celebration felt uniquely special. This month, a planetary alignment coincided with the New Year celebration. The planets also wanted to mark this momentous event. The planets traveled through the heaves hung like a string of brilliant jewels. Maui felt that the heavens were giving their blessing, and he hoped the alignment was an omen that the new year would bring blessing to the soq lands. This past year was challenging, and he yearned for his family on the southern coastline. Perhaps a change needed to occur, and a visit to his birthplace was necessary. Maui felt the stirring of itching, which indicated a traveling bug, namely his desire for adventure. Living in a more temperate climate during the winter months would be nice. Maui would hate to leave his artwork and stone garden, but a change was necessary. He had been feeling stagnant with life and, at times, lonely, an atypical feeling. Maui was a beach boy at heart. Rarely did he focus on his moods, as he was typically a low-key and outgoing stallion who quickly made friends wherever he went. For now, though, he wanted to focus on the present moment and the joy of his companions who watched the bonfires and the stars. The night sky and the warm of the bonfires was truly special and Maui knew that he would frequently reflect on this magical New Years celebration in the future.
(W: 780)
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