Today, December 21st, is our winter solstice here in Canada and the rest of the northern hemisphere.  That means it’s the shortest day of the year.  It also means the days will now start to get longer. 

It also means that spring is coming!

Yaaaaaay.  After all, spring is my favourite season, when I can (finally) get back out into my precious gardens and watch everything come to life.

Technically, winter solstice, also referred to as the first day of winter, is an astronomical event that happens as the earth travels in its orbit around the sun. Apparently, the sun sets one minute later each day of the month between now and the summer solstice in June. That calculates out to thirty minutes per month.

This date reminds me of my late father as he, like me, much preferred summer and spring.  He always commented on this first day of winter, getting great satisfaction in the fact that the long winter was getting shorter.  Even though winter just started.

On the flip side, on June 21st, summer solstice or the longest day of the year, he would grumble and complain that the days were getting shorter. All the way to the winter solstice.