17 December 2016

Hold On, It's Coming

The winter solstice, that is, when we here in the frozen North have our shortest day. But in five days, the sunrise and sunset begin moving farther apart again.

So what does it look like, at 1430 (that's 2:30 pm for you landlubbers)?


What you see here is the sun which has just reappeared from behind the mountains to the south, as it sinks rapidly toward the 1536 (3:36 pm) sunset today.

It's 25 minutes later, now, and the sun is already below that horizon.

You ask, does "all that dark" bother us? A little bit, this time of year: it's hard to tell what time it is, in the afternoon and evening. We frequently think it's 7 or 8 pm, when it's only 4:30.

On the other hand, there's the joyous rediscovery that we have lots more time than we thought. :)


5 comments:

drjim said...

Yep, more time spent indoors doing things like reading and actually TALKING to each other!

Ed Bonderenka said...

Running a 24/7 operation disabuses one of thinking that the day starts or stops with the rising or setting of the sun.

Rev. Paul said...

Jim, that's a good point. Of course, if Alaskans stayed indoors whenever it's cold and/or dark, we'd not get outdoors at all. We just go out anyway. That's what flashlights are for. :)

Ed, I hear you; I'm just glad not to be doing the 24/7 thing anymore.

Sandy Livesay said...

Rev. Paul,

Bless those flashlights :-)
Sounds to me like weather to stay inside next to a nice fireplace with something good cooking in the over for dinner.

Rev. Paul said...

Sandy, we have dusk-to-dawn, motion-activity lights on the exterior of our house. But they don't help much when we hike the 160' or so to the mailbox.

And yes, it's a wonderful time for lighting the fireplace. And there's almost always something good cooking. :)