Christmas is just
around the corner and a new year less than two weeks away now. This
alone should and could be cause for celebration. But today, December
21, is a special day too. For those not sure, it is the shortest day
and the longest night of the year.
Each day I watch the
weather forecast, primarily to see if I will need a raincoat or
thermal underwear or maybe both. But there is one statistic that
always draws my attention however....the hours of daylight and the
amount of the decrease of sunlight each day since June. As of today,
it's eight hours and forty seven minutes of daylight with a decrease
of six hours and fifty one minutes of sun light from June. That is when
the sun is actually shining. The sun is something we have not seen
for many days now, making the dark and gloomy days seem to blend
seamlessly into the night.
The shortest day of the
year, or the winter solstice as it is astronomically known. marks the
shortest day and the longest night of the year in the northern
hemisphere, while those south of the Equator enjoy basking in the
sunshine and playing beach volleyball with warm sunny days and starlit nights. Now all of this shortness and 'longness' has a
scientific explanation, the tipping of the earth's axis and orbits
around the sun. But that explanation is for another day.
Winter solstice should
not be confused with the first day of winter. The solstice is
actually just a moment in time, like many things in life ,
sometime around 11:00 AM I think. And the first day of winter this
year? Let's try the snowstorm of November 3!
The winter solstice has
a long history of importance. In addition to being a time of seasonal
change, it was often seen as a time of warning and a reminder to
communities of the coming months of possible starvation. In many of
the colder locations the months of January to April were known as the
'famine' months.
On a more positive
note, many early cultures recognized the winter solstice as a time
for celebration, of rebirth, of festivals and for holiday gatherings.
It was also a time when much of the wine, prepared and bottled in
late summer was now ready for drinking. Let's party.
The time from mid to
late November to early April is a time of early sunsets and late
sunrises. Recently is seems there have been very few sunrises due to
the stormy weather plaguing the Northeast. Being the hearty stock we
are, we know this, too, will pass and that the sun will eventually
shine again. And if not, perhaps we can contact our local legislators to submit legislation about increasing the amount of sunshine each
day. Maybe the Governor could help too.
For those really
curious, the shortest day of the year does not always fall on
December 21, the result of the earth's trip around the sun and other
factors, but that gets too complicated for me to explain here. I'll
stick with December 21.
But now the countdown
begins. With each new day it starts with only a few seconds, but soon
minutes will be added to the amount of daylight. And, as if on cue,
the seed catalogs will begin to arrive in the mail and Kohl's and
Target will begin their swimsuit and beachwear advertisements.
As the sun moves higher
into the sky and the once lengthy shadows cast from the low winter
sun begin to shrink, it will be time to start up the lawn mower,
sweep the leftover sand and salt from the driveway, clean up the yard
after the dog and take the car to the car wash.
For sure, Christmas and
New Years are great times to celebrate with family and friends. But
let's not forget to celebrate, not the shortest day of the year, but
what will soon follow, even if it's only one or two minutes each day.
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