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Winter Infinity
Credit: Fred Camilli
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EmailWinter for 2012 begins in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21, 6:12 A.M. EST. Here’s more about the first day of winter—the winter solstice—plus, facts, folklore, and some wonderful winter photos!
“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.” –Steve Martin
See when each season starts for 2011 and 2012.
The Winter Solstice
Winter inspires both joy and woe. Some people can't wait for the cooler weather, snow, skiing and ice skating, curling up by a fire, and the holiday spirit. Other people dislike the frigid temperatures, blizzards, and wild weather.
The word solstice comes from the Latin words "sun" and "to stop, due to the fact that the Sun seems to stop in the sky. The Sun is directly overhead at "high-noon" on Winter Solstice at the latitude called the Tropic of Capricorn. In the Northern Hemisphere, the solstice days are the days with the fewest hours of sunlight during the whole year.
See your local Sun rise and set times and see how the days change!
Questions and Answers About Winter
Question: Why is there such a time lag between the shortest day of the year and the lowest average daily temperature of the year?
Answer: This is the shortest day of the year—the time when the Sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky. Although this part of Earth is cooling, its great thermal mass still retains some heat from the summer and fall. As the gradual cooling process continues over the next two months, temperatures will continue to fall, and the coldest temperatures will be recorded. The same pattern holds true for the summer solstice in June, as the year's highest temperatures are recorded later, in July and August.
Snowy Stream by Kathleen P. Hertkorn
Question: Was Stonehenge built to celebrate the winter solstice?
Answer: That's one theory. The people who built the great monument were probably farmers, and they would have used Stonehenge to celebrate the most important festival of the year—the promise of the return of the growing season. The priests, or shamans, at the time of the building of Stonehenge would have called the community leaders together to celebrate and mark the continuing cycle of the seasons and the fact that they were not heading into an endless night.
Signs of Winter
It depends on where you are! In some places, snow begins to sprinkle down (or dump) onto the landscape, painting everything white. You notice a peaceful sort of silence when you walk through the woods—a muffled kind of quiet. It also mean shoveling, snowblowing, dealing with bad roads, and sometimes unbearable temperatures. For others, the temperatures become very mild and cool, and Florida fills up with people escaping the harshness of a northern winter.
You can track when the seasons change by recording animal behaviors and the way that the plants grow. Listen to the new sounds and observe what you hear and see.
How do you know that winter is coming? Share your comment below!
Winter Folklore and Verse
Deep snow in winter; tall grain in summer—Estonian proverb
Visits should be short, like a winter's day.
A fair day in winter is the mother of a storm—English proverb
Summer comes with a bound; winter comes yawning.
Onion skins very thin, mild winter coming in.
Wonderful Winter Photos
Our eCards are great photographs to send to family and friends.
Winter Cathedral Send as e-Card now!
Around the Farm by J Keller Send as e-Card now!
Please share—what are the signs of winter you see?
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Comments
Note on Stonehenge. It was
Note on Stonehenge.
It was Built by the village Brehon's or Priest. We know them as Druids. It was built on the convergence of land lines or energy lines of the land. They used the stones as markers of the cycle of the year. To mark when to begin planting or harvesting. The major cycles of the year are marked by the equinox and solstice of the seasons and the cross quarters of same.
They then celebrated the seasons of change and through the posative energies they assured themselves and the land a posative outcome.
@DruidJames Your note on
@DruidJames
Your note on Stonehenge is slightly misleading in that it speaks as though it is established and verifiable fact. Considering that the builders left no written record and not even the most intimately involved researchers debate as to who began construction, one would be wise to recognize that it is not as straight forward as all that. Construction was done over a 1,700 year period with additions and changes made along the way.
Furthermore, the Druid's (as opposed to modern day neo-druids) association with Stonehenge has been thoroughly dispelled in T.D. Kendrick, The Druids: A Study in Keltic Prehistory.
While most of what you say regarding the stones positioning is more or less true, the purpose has never been ascertained, again mainly due to the lack of a written record, however scholars now are convinced that it was likely a place of ancestor worship and death rituals (funerals and burials)- "cremated remains found on the site indicate that deposits contain human bone material from as early as 3000 BC, when the initial ditch and bank were first dug. Such deposits continued at Stonehenge for at least another 500 years." (See Schmid, Randolph E. "Study: Stonehenge was a burial site for centuries" for more info)
All this to say that posting Notes for informational purposes is great, but readers must use a great deal of discernment in accepting their accuracy.
Signs of winter: Juncos
Signs of winter: Juncos (snowbirds), like robins announce spring, snowbirds announce that winter has arrived.
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