Happy Solstice Day!

The shortest and darkest day of the year is here. Beginning tomorrow, each day will be a little longer and a little lighter, for today is the Winter Solstice, the day when winter actually begins.

At 12:11 p.m. EST today (11:11 a.m. CST), the sun will appear directly overhead along the Tropic of Capricorn, at 23.5 degrees south latitude. With the Earth’s north pole at its maximum tilt from the sun, locations in the northern hemisphere will see the sun follow its lowest and shortest arc across the southern sky. For the next six months, the sun will spend an increasing amount of time above the horizon and our days will be progressively longer.

From the earliest days of human history, this time of year has been a time of festivals - festivals meant to hold the fearful dark at bay and welcome the light of a new day and a new year. We continue this tradition with our own year-end holidays and celebrations. They connect us to our forbears, singing and dancing around the fires to drive the dark away. In honor of the Winter Solstice, here is a poem which expresses that human need to cast out darkness and celebrate the light.

The Shortest Day 

by Susan Cooper

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, fest, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!

Happy Solstice Day and let us look forward to those longer and lighter days ahead. The garden and the gardener are ready for this new year.

This week in the garden - #43

The brown leaves skitter across the quiet yard pushed by a brisk cold wind from the north. The only other sounds come from the jousting Rufous Hummingbirds as they vie for a place at the sugar water feeders or from the other occasional winter bird announcing its presence at the backyard feeders, and from the splash of water in the little fountain and the fish pond. As the year winds down, the sound level in the yard winds down, too, until, at last, it seems to whisper, fearful of disturbing the sleeping plants.

We had our third frost of the month last night. The temperature registered by my thermometer on the back porch was 32 degrees, but farther away from the house, it was surely colder than that, probably into the 20s. We had an early morning appointment in Houston and so had to get up earlier than usual while the frost was still very evident. It looked almost like a light frosting of snow on the yard.

Just a couple of days ago it was 80 degrees here, but then the cold front blew through with strong winds and the temperature dropped rapidly. That is fairly typical of our weather at this time of year - nothing if not changeable. You never know whether you'll need a sweater or shorts on any given day. It does make our lives interesting.

I understand that it is supposed to warm up again over the weekend, but I hope the colder weather will return by the time our Christmas guests start arriving. Something about the holiday just seems wrong when you have to turn on the air conditioner to keep your guests comfortable!

And so, today, the day of the Winter Solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year, and the end of 13 Baktun on the Mayan long count calendar, I puttered around my garden accompanied by Charlie the garden cat.

Charlie stops to wash his face.

We enjoyed the brilliant sunshine and brisk weather of this first official winter day. I watched the goldfinches hanging upside down eating the crape myrtle seeds. (Most members of the finch family love crape myrtle seeds, which is an excellent reason not to prune your seedheads off before the birds have a chance to strip them.) I thought about all the tasks that I need to get started on as soon as the holidays are over. For the next week, the garden will have to wait as I fulfill my annual role as hostess for the family year-end celebration. It's a role that I love, but I admit I am also always glad to get it behind me so that I can concentrate on my garden again.

Whatever holidays you celebrate at this time of year, I hope they are happy days for you and your loved ones and that the coming year for you will be a healthy one filled with all the best that life has to offer. And may much of that "best" be waiting for you in your garden.