Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winter Solstice 2008

My 7 year old reminded me today that it was The Winter Solstice. This of course marks the shortest day of the year. However, one could also say that today is the day with the most hours of darkness. Something we in Minnesota do not need....

Right now our wee ones get on the bus in the dark and they are only home for a short while before it is dark again. It has been too cold for the school to let them out at recess time to play (highs of -7). So, they spend all of their time in the dark or artificial light (and I wonder why they act like a bunch of caged animals) Workers are stuck in the same boat - to work in the dark and home in the dark, and if their office has no windows - another caged animal..... So basically right now I am living in a really bad zoo! I have taken to the hibernation method myself! Sleep through the winter as much as possible, only waking to fuel my body.
Right now it has been dark before 5 p.m. and it doesn't get fully light until almost 8 in the morning. No wonder our zone suffers from high numbers of us suffering from S.A.D.

Maybe we could look at it in this way, today, marks a change! (If we can pull our head out of the covers or out of our depressive fogs long enough to look at anything anyway....)

From here on out the darkness will become less and less. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is the sun. More hours of sun!!!! How lovely it will be to sit down to supper in the light. .... oh the joy of sunshine.

I have added a set of artwork celebrating this day as others have before us.

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