The March to Spring

Sunrise December 20, 2015.

December Solstice (Winter Solstice) is on Monday, December 21, 2015 at 11:49 PM in Ottawa. That’s less than an hour away as I write this. Hurray! Turn-Around Day, when we begin the slow but inexorable march to spring. Today was 6 hours and 58 minutes shorter than the day at June solstice. Tomorrow will be less than a second longer. The next day, 4 seconds longer, as we move towards the light!

Last winter was long, snowy, and bitterly cold. By November 22, we already had a few inches of snow on the ground. So far this year, winter has hardly begun. We have enjoyed an extended fall season of mild temperatures and only a little dusting of snow a few days ago, which quickly melted away. Right now, it is 4 degrees C (40 F) and a light rain is falling. No matter what January and February have to offer, we have been spared a month of harsh weather and the winter will be shorter.

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Solstice, One Month On

Friday was the 21st of the month, one month on from the December solstice. It is wonderful to see the days growing longer. On Friday, the sun rose here at 7.35 AM and set at 4.54 PM, bringing the length of the day to 9 hours, 18 minutes and 49 seconds. At this time of year, every second counts!

A month ago, the sun was setting at 4.23 PM. If I didn’t have the horses in the barn for the night by 5 o’clock, I was working in the dark. But now I have a bit more leeway. The photo above was taken at 5.20, and as you can see, it was still quite bright outside. How cheering, to know we are slowly, slowly, marching toward spring.

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