Longer Days - Winter Solstice - Dec 21--6:38PM EST

If 6:38 PM, December 21, 2010, is the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, what does that mean to my life? Does it mean winter's officially here? What else does it mean?

It has quite a few meanings or effects. Basically it is considered the first day of winter. We all know that winter is cold. Here in the Big Town of Savage (BToS) this December has been our coldest month in quite a while. It has felt like winter to me for the whole month. If you're anything like me, you wonder how it can get much worse...I know, I know, remember all that darn snow we had last winter!!!

What it really means, and this is true each yearly cycle, is that on the day of the winter solstice, we experience the shortest daily period of daylight (exposure to the sun) of the year, which some folks insist on calling the 'shortest day' of the year.

Obviously, all days are actually the same length in hours, they only vary in the amount of daylight we receive. So the 'shortest day' term is really a misnomer, as are many of the terms we use in today's English communication.

If the Winter Solstice indicates the day with the shortest daylight hours of the year, then the daily period of daylight can only get longer afterward. Indeed, the daily amount of daylight gradually begins to increase until the Summer Solstice when we have the most daily daylight hours of the year, which will be June 21 for 2011.

While you're bemoaning the lack of daylight and cold temperatures during the mid-Dec to mid-Feb depths of winter, take solace in knowing that the amount of daylight is gradually increasing each day; thus bringing us more sunshine and gradually moving us toward spring; which is a whole other subject.

As news reporters will be wont to say come Tuesday, "Winter's officially here, it's the shortest day of the year!" In reality, we will be slowly working our way toward those little green thingies popping out of the ground.

Enjoy your holidays, then enjoy the added sunshine each day as we go through winter and please do relish it when the sun is feeling so warm on those cold February days.

Ponder it,
JD