Thursday 21 December 2017

December 21st and Yule or The Winter Solstice


https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4f/3b/8a/4f3b8a026247e00779e623183c780ab8.jpg
Susan Cooper is an author best known for a series of fantasy novels for children
 

BUT is it the shortest day?

According to my diary................and this is very depressing!

Today ............Sunrise  08:04                                   Sunset 15:54
Tomorrow.......Sunrise  08:04                                   Sunset  15:54
23rd   Sunrise 08:05 (a minute later)                       Sunset 15:55 ( but also a minute later)
24th   Sunrise 08:05                                                 Sunset 15:55

Am I reading this right?...... that's 4 days all the same....................4 Shortest days?

Then at last on Christmas Day we gain a minute   Sunrise 08:05  but Sunset 15:56

Then for the next 6 days sunrise is a minute later - at 08:06 but we gain a minute each evening. - Oh Hooray!

Is my diary right?

Anyway I've been out and brought in some greenery as people have done on this day down the centuries, more about this tomorrow.

BTW the jigsaw puzzle is coming along slowly.



Sue

15 comments:

  1. Sue, if you go to the sunrise and sunset calculator on time and date.com it is a little more positive, but sunrise does get later each day!

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  2. Well, it's the longest day here in the Antipodes and I'm enjoying the warmth and sunlight. Shall I send you some;-)

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  3. We love a jigsaw puzzle in this house too. As each of the Offspring passes through the house on a visit, they add a bit more to the puzzle while we chatter. Some of the puzzles are from when they were younger & it's surprising what we remember about the times when we last did that puzzle. Continued Best Wishes to Col.

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  4. Thanks for the poem, Sue, and the extra information about the shortest day(S). You are romping on with the jigsaw-when I put my sewing machine away, I'm getting out my last year's Christmas guft-oops! Catriona

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  5. Your calendar is correct. The length of day is not a perfect 24 hours in December but it is evened out for convenience. The days get shorter until January when you start to notice a slight lengthening, and add to that a tilt of the earth and position of where you are in the country and it all adds up to a little bit different for everybody from the furthest point in Wales to Lowestoft near here. The jigsaw is coming on well.

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  6. If you think that's depressing, you'd better not read anything about what astrologers have forecast regarding various celestial happenings!
    Glad to see the jigsaw is coming along well.
    Solstice Blessings!

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  7. I've noticed the same thing on the BBC Weather website (they also give the sunrise and sunset times) and in Bristol the sunrise is getting later from 08.14 to 08.15 up until Sunday, but the sunset has got a little better - 16.04 instead of 16.02 in the last few days. However it works out, I always feel a relieved once we're past the solstice as it's getting ever so slightly better, daylight-wise, each day. Ironic, I know, given my surname but I find the long, dark nights of winter very difficult and long for the days to lengthen. Very impressive progress on the jigsaw btw.

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  8. I love that poem, thank you.
    J x

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    Replies
    1. Me,too (or I, also). "As promise wakens in the sleeping land"... yes. All best wishes to you and Col.

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  9. My least favourite day of the year then if it means the nights will stay lighter longer. I love the dark nights.....closing the curtains early, lighting the lamps, good smells from the kitchen and snuggling....lots of snuggling under blankets or quilts and toes all nice and cosy in fluffy socks.
    Spring and summer can stay away for as long as they like for me.

    You've really got on with that jigsaw.
    Hugs-x-

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  10. In my mind today IS the shortest day and from now on our days get longer, maybe there are seconds rather than just minutes involved hence your diary evening things out.

    To me though we are over the hump ... and our chickens have carried on laying which is the most important thing.

    Happy Solstice day. Xx

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  11. Noooooooooo. I do not believe it.. From tomorrow it WILL be a longer day - if just in my imagination. Good to hear good news on Col x

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  12. Although it's the solstice I look forward to the new year as the beginning of the days getting longer. I look forward to March and starting new life for the garden.

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  13. I sure hope that tomorrow the days start getting longer.

    Your puzzle is coming along nicely. Good work.

    God bless.

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