Some Thoughts for Today by Joe Farace
Today is the first day of winter and is the Winter Solstice. Here in the Northern Hemisphere the Earth is tilted as far away from the sun as it will be all year. It’s also the shortest day — and longest night — of the year. This year the Solstice occurs at 2:19 AM MST here on Daisy Hill.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the word solstice comes from the Latin words for “sun” and “to stand still.” In the Northern Hemisphere, as summer moves into winter, the point on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets advances southward each day. The high point in the Sun’s daily path across the sky occurs at noon local time and also moves southward each day.
At the winter solstice, the Sun’s path has reached its southernmost position. The next day, its path will advance northward. However, a few days before and after the winter solstice, the change is so slight that the Sun’s path seems to stand still. At the latitude (23°26′09.8″) known as the Tropic of Capricorn, the Sun is directly overhead at high noon on the Winter Solstice.
As I write this, no snow is expected on Christmas and I can tell you after the year that Mary and I have had, I’m looking forward to sitting in the living room next to our Christmas tree and sipping some hot chocolate no matter what the weather might be. One can always hope for a White Christmas but not a blizzard, as what happened in 1982.
How I shot this image: The featured photograph was made during my daily walk when Mary and I lived in Brighton, Colorado. The camera used was a Fujifilm FinePix S100FS with 28-400mm (equivalent) lens and an exposure of 1/450 sec at f/8 and ISO 200. The image was captured using the camera’s B&W Color Mode that also offered High, Mid, and Low color choices.
Here in Daisy Hill, six miles from Parker Colorado, it can also be quite cold and snowy this time of year with temperatures below zero but the weather here is so unpredictable that I wouldn’t be surprised to see temperatures in the low 50’s on Christmas day. No matter the weather, I want to wish you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years.
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