PseudoSolstice

Today is the pseudosolstice where I live. Today’s sunset is the earliest of the year. The sunrise, however, is still getting later, and it doing so faster than the sunset is now also getting later. So- for another 10 days or so, the day will be shorter, but the sunset will be a tiny bit later. This means that it’s a little messy from now until December 21, at 2:20am, but our daylight is still being reduced.

From the December 21st until about January 4, 2021, we will have some more messiness where the sunrise and sunset are still moving but it’s not a clean “sunrise is earlier and sunset is later sort of thing”, the days will be lengthening a bit, but its just kinds of messy. If this sort of thing is interesting to you, I encourage you to google sunrise tables for (where you live) and see what the real deal is. I grew up thinking it was clean and simple- like most things in nature it’s just not.

Finally, on the 4th of January, we will have the sunrise and sunset moving apart like they mean it- a few seconds of light added at both ends of the day. Light will come creeping back in to the world where I live and I can start a new phenological cycle.

I find it curious that we have chosen to make the Winter (or Hibernal) Solstice the beginning of winter. I tend to think of it as the middle-ish of winter. I guess I’m a little old-school that way. A lot of more traditional cultures view the solstices as mid-winter and mid-summer.

Anyway.

I’m ready for this year to be behind us. I don’t expect 2021 to be (miraculously) better, but 2020 is a guest whose welcome is well past worn-out.