Happy Solstice

The winter solstice, also know as midwinter, occurs when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt away from the Sun.  It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern).  For that hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year.

Now when I was a kid, stating that December 21st was the longest night of the year confused me.  everyone knew that the longest year was actually 3 nights later, Christmas Eve.  And trust me, sharing a double bed with my brother and a large dog, at my grandmother's house, made for a very long night.

Tomorrow we start our journey towards the summer solstice.  Tomorrow we start adding 4 minutes of daylight each day.  It won't be long and those dark cold mornings will be light cold mornings.