Detail from "Rain Dance," an original quilt by Sherrie Spangler

Friday, December 21, 2012

Solstice sun


The Winter Solstice dawned dark and wet and chilly, but the Feet & Forks set off anyway on our planned 5-miler. We were astounded when the sun broke through, casting long shadows from the low sun shortly after 10:30 in the top photo. (No, I didn't set the camera for a black and white photo. That's really how it looked.)

Our good fortune continued throughout the walk, and afterward the solstice sun splashed onto our restaurant table as we took the requisite "forks" photo.


A few short hours after we parted, the sun already was setting. I drove down to the water at 4:30 to take this photo of the last rays of light on the year's shortest day:
 

Sunrise was at 7:54 a.m. and sunset was 4:23 p.m. That's about 8 1/2 hours of daylight vs 15 1/2 hours of dark. I am SO ready for the turning of our part of the planet toward more sunlight.

My birthday cake -- I'm almost a solstice baby.

In the meantime, what better way to get through the darkness than with festive food, cheerful red colors, a lot of candles and little white lights and friends and family gathered close.





Wishing you a Happy Solstice

2 comments:

The Idaho Beauty said...

Stunning capture of the solstice beginning and end. I keep forgetting that the days get longer so soon. Gives me hope! I'm really getting tired of rushing to get a walk in before dark.

Judy Ferguson said...

I will forgive you for posting pictures of food on here, as I am trying to be good till tomorrow, but I do love the wonderful solstice photos Merry Christmas.