Tempora mutantur

Tempora mutantur
Loosely translated- changes brought over time.

At my point on the globe, today, December 10, 2022, is the start of the celestial dance that results in the light winning the battle over darkness and slowly streaming back into the northern hemisphere.

One portion of this dance is the winter solstice, but the solstice is just the most well-known moment in time. As is typically the case, the real story is more nuanced.

The sunset this afternoon is a few seconds later than it was yesterday- so this day is sometimes referred to as the winter pseudo-solstice. Those few seconds of additional sun time mark the beginning of the end of darkness’ reign over the northern hemisphere.

The sunsets from today forward, will creep later into the evening. However, the sunrises are also still getting later, and they are doing so at a rate that is faster than the sunsets are getting later. As a result, the overall day length is still getting slightly shorter.

Until December 21. At some moment on the 21^st due to our planet’s axial tilt the sun will appear to standstill from my point of reference and begin to creep back towards the north.

From the 21^st on, the sunsets are getting later faster than the sunrises are- so there is just a smidgen more light in each day. The real changes begin on January 4, 2023, when the sunrises begin to occur earlier each day – only by a few seconds – and the sunsets also keep getting later.

On Jan 4, the daylight is increasing at both ends of the day.

This 25-ish day period is reversed starting on June 15 when the sunrises begin their change towards begin later. Then on the 26^th of June both the sunrise and the sunset begin to get closer. In the summer, it takes less than half the time to make the change and begin closing the daylight gap. I suspect this is due to Helena’s location. Being closer to the north pole than the equator, I think we just skew in the favor of dark.

Regardless, the changes that occur over the next few weeks are quite welcome. The return of wildflowers and spring migratory birds are now only 100 or so days away. If I close my eyes and try, I can smell the damp soil of my favorite trails- trails that are currently covered in ice and snow.

Tempora mutanur, indeed.