You would be forgiven for feeling blue today, with Omicron ruining Christmas and Joe Manchin ruining everything else. I say, happy! Today is the first day in six months when we can say that brighter days are on the way.
The official start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is Tuesday, December 21, the winter solstice. The number of hours of daylight will increase. Tomorrow will be the shortest day of the year for us Northern Hemispherers.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs when the North Pole tilts approximately 23.5 degrees away from the Sun, a figure that changes extremely slightly over a period of about 41 thousand years. The winter solstice is when the Sun is above the Tropic of Capricorn.
The winter and summer solstices are different because the Earth year is a little longer, which means we have an extra day to celebrate. The National Weather Service says the winter solstice happened at 10:59 am.
The rate at which the minutes of sunlight will expand remains sluggish and depends on where you are on Earth. Have patience!
It will once again mean a time of day when it should be dark and not an hour before you finish working. Congress is to blame for the period of darkness through which we all just suffered, because they refuse to allow the many states that wish to remain on Daylight Saving Time year-round to do so. You can take a stroll through the city, walk your dog on the grass, grab a bite to eat under a propane heat lamp, or even take a nice solo stroll through town. No flashlight is required.
