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The days are getting shorter, the nights are drawing in …

(December 1, 2020 ) Until winter solstice December 21st , the days will get shorter and, as one friend said, at this time of year we “begin our inexorable march towards darkness.”  In central Canada, the sun rose at 7:34 am and will set at 4:43 pm. Winter solstice is on the way. According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the winter solstice is the astronomical moment when the sun reaches the Tropic of Capricorn, we have our shortest day and longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. Regardless of the weather, the winter solstice marks the beginning of winter.  Winter solstice traditions include making an evergreen wreath, decorating a tree and celebrating in candlelight. For some, as the sun wanes, they feel a bit low. Others love the being wrapped in woollen sweater, scarves and darkness. As happens so often, the poets say it best. “The air's getting much colder, now autumn time has come again.”

Winter Solstice in the city
Photo: William Topa

Blow, blow, thou winter wind, 

   Thou art not so unkind 

      As man’s ingratitude; 

   Thy tooth is not so keen, 

Because thou art not seen, 

      Although thy breath be rude.

"Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind" — William Shakespeare

Winter Solstice
Photo: Nicholas Selman

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" — Robert Frost

Winter Solstice - Norther Lights
Photo: Kym Ellis

One winter I lived north, alone
and effortless, dreaming myself
into the past. Perhaps, I thought,
words could replenish privacy.

"The World" - Jennifer Chang

Photo: Lasse Moller

They say that spring will come again
No one knows exactly when.
Still the sun's a long lost friend
On the longest night of the year.

"The longest night of the year" -  Mary Chapin Carpenter

Photo: Ales Krivec

In winter 

    all the singing is in 

         the tops of the trees 

             where the wind-bird 

with its white eyes 

    shoves and pushes 

         among the branches. 

             Like any of us 

"White Eyes" -  Mary Oliver

Photo: John Bakator

The cold earth slept below; 

         Above the cold sky shone; 

                And all around, 

                With a chilling sound, 

From caves of ice and fields of snow 

The breath of night like death did flow 

                Beneath the sinking moon.

"The cold earth slept below" - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Feature Photo

Photo: Johny Goerend

“The days are getting shorter and colder, but I ask you to remember – even as the winter comes in, there is hope and there is light." 

Seamus Heaney

With special thanks to the poetryfoundation.org

Related

‘You be the wind that makes the seed go’ May 21, 2020

Filed Under: Photo Essay

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