The winter solstice, the day with the shortest hours of daylight in the year, has been celebrated by various cultures for thousands of years. The Roman holiday of Saturnalia, the Soyal celebration of the Hopi Indians in Arizona, the ancient Persian festival of Yalda, the Chinese observance of Dong Zhi are just a sampling of solstice celebrations. Dances, songs, candle lighting, and religious services, have all been a part of celebratory rituals.
Cold weather and long nights characterize this time of year. Slowly, imperceptibly where I live in the Northeast, the day will get longer, but I will not see the difference, initially. The additional daylight begins with an increase – in seconds. But with every cloud there is a silver lining. Every day brings the time closer when winter doldrums transform into the brightness of spring.
I cannot wait until darkness arrives after 5:00 p.m. I know it is psychological, but as soon as I cannot see anything but artificial lights outdoors, I feel sleepy. Is it bedtime yet?
I enjoy going out to dinner. To avoid driving on icy, dark roads, I dine in the early evening or late afternoon during the darkest days of winter. That means partaking in early bird specials. Nothing wrong with that – the price can be easy on the wallet in today’s inflationary economy. But it also means dining with, let us say delicately, an older crowd. Yes, that’s me and my husband and friends, but we don’t like to be classified as such. Yes, we are delusional. But we are mature and allowed our perceptions, skewed as they may be.
I find it difficult to drag myself out of bed to attend exercise class when it is still pitch-black outside. I don’t like throwing on my coat, hat, boots, walking outside in the cold, entering a cold car, turning on the car lights, and driving to the gym in the gloom. I prefer to remain under covers in my cozy bed.
All those cold weather clothes? I can’t wait to go outside sans layers of clothing and wintry weather accessories.
Holiday lights are festive, but it will be nice when they are unnecessary to brighten the blackness.
Enough of my wistful winter musings…time to cocoon on my warm, comfy couch, wrap myself in my quilt, and indulge in personal seasonal celebratory activities – binge-watching, book-reading, eating, and thinking about spring.
Comments
4 responses to “Musings on the Winter Solstice”
Not only do I get the warmer weather in the south, but because I’m closer to the equator, the sun sets later. There’s a 77-minute difference between when the sun sets today in Connecticut and in Bradenton, FL. The kick is that the sun sets later in Connecticut in the summer, but the difference won’t be so drastic.
Ohmyword! Me, too! All of the above!
Once New Year’s Day passes I am ready for spring! That was not the case during my many years in Florida–this was good weather time there!
[…] This week the winter solstice reminded us that we are experiencing the darkest days of winter. Meryl Baer of Musings of a Shore Life discusses her feelings, some positive, others not so wonderful, about the event in this week’s post Musings on the Winter Solstice. […]