Yesterday was either the shortest or longest day of the year, depending on whether you live in the Northern or Southern hemisphere (outside the tropic zone) of this great blue-green marble we call Earth. For those of us in the north, December 21st marks the beginning of winter, generally thought of a the time of the year to hunker down, stay indoors, hibernate. At the same time, it is the preceeding autumn season when the daylight gets less and less, up until this seasonal shift. Now, the days get longer. We have made it through the period of waning light, to the maximum amount of darkness (nearly 15.5 hours at my latitude), and we survived.

I have always felt autumn was the more difficult season to endure because of the consistent loss of daytime minutes, a couple every day. Now we are gaining daylight, even though in my area, we probably won’t see the sun again for weeks. I have heard in the past that the day for Christmas, December 25th, was actually chosen to coincide with the birthday of the Persian deity of the sun and justice, Mithra. December 25th is also the day at which ancient humans were said to begin to be able to observe the days getting longer, after the solstice on the 21st.

We had an unusually fair-weather winter solstice this year in my area. After sleeping in, which really should be part of every holiday in my opinion, I got up to walk the dogs in the sunshine; it was cold, but lovely. And when I got home, I talked hubby into taking a short drive to one of our favorite spots. I don’t have a lot more to talk about today, so I think I will just share some pics instead and hope you all get some peace from the stillness I tried to capture. Enjoy your holidays this winter, or summer, whatever they may be.