In seminary, I formed friendships with folk who came from the southern hemisphere. Friends from South Africa, Indonesia and Australia were important to my education and the friendships have endured over the years even though the distances between us have been great. It seems that I always think of them at this time of the year. They taught me that my perspective isn’t the only one in the world. I’ve always lived in the northern hemisphere. I’ve always associated the celebration of Christmas with short days and long nights, cold weather and winter. But for the people of the other half of the world Christmas comes near the longest day of the year at the beginning of summer. In place of churches lit by candlelight they greet the season of sunshine and outdoor activities.

We now live the farthest north of any place where we have settled. Yesterday, the shortest day of the year, offered just 8 hours and 20 minutes of day. Actually, you have to measure in seconds to discern the difference in daylight. Yesterday was 8 hours, 19 minutes, and 39 seconds of daylight. Today will be 8 hours, 19 minutes and 43 seconds - four more seconds of daylight. The days, however, are getting longer.

For some reason we seem to notice the short days more in the afternoons than in the mornings. Although nearly 8 am is a late time for sunrise, the sunset coming before 4:30 makes the day seem awfully short. For a few weeks now, we have been going on sunset walks in the afternoon, before coming home to prepare dinner. We don’t seem to notice the short days as much when we have evening meetings, but when we are at home, the evenings seem to be longer even when we eat our meals at the usual time.

We are naturally accustomed to sleeping when it is dark outside and being awake when it is light, but we don’t need nearly 16 hours of sleep so we’ve been rising and going to bed in the dark for some time.

It is easy to see why the ancients paid attention to the length of days and made a celebration of the solstice. It is easy to understand why devising systems of paying attention to the angle of the sun and measuring the length of days became a priority. After months of the world seeming to get darker and darker, it is reassuring to have the days start to grow longer, even if it takes several weeks to notice the impact of the longer days.

Spring will come. New growth will return.

The thing that seems strange to me about this time of the year in our newly adopted home is that the weather is truly mild here near the ocean. The grass in my lawn is at its greenest. There is no snow on the ground, and on the days when it does snow, it rarely lasts for more than part of the day. We did have a bit of an ice storm yesterday afternoon and evening. The temperatures hovered in the low thirties as a gentle rain fell. The result was a glazing of ice on everything. We noticed that the sidewalks were getting slippery as we finished our walk. Later, we talked with our son about the condition of the roads. He ended up spending the night in the town where he works because the forecast was for it to remain icy until after midnight when the temperatures rose enough to melt the ice. It hardly is what we might think of as a winter storm and there is little evidence of it this morning, but in the late afternoon and evening yesterday the roads were treacherous and dangerous. The Interstate highway through our county was closed for a while after multiple serious accidents. That was just a few hours ago and now it is raining and the road surfaces have returned to their normal state. For a number of people who got on the highway at just the wrong time yesterday, however, it was a really serious situation.

The forecast is predicting snow for Christmas here and that has gotten some people excited. I’m hoping that it isn’t too much as we will be making two trips into town for church services on Christmas Eve. On the other hand, we have not experienced any problems getting around in the snow here. Our car has good tires and all wheel drive and we have plenty of winter driving experience. As long as it doesn’t get icy, the snow won’t be a problem for us and it would be fun to have a snow day for Christmas. When it snows here it is wet, sticky snow that makes for good snowballs and making snow creatures. And we know it won’t last. As I’ve mentioned in my journal before, I’m the only one in my neighborhood who has a snow shovel and within a couple of hours you can’t tell that I shovel my walks and driveway because the neighbors’ walk and driveways have melted.

The solstice has come. We didn’t have any special ceremonies or celebrations. Our traditions are focused on Christmas. The big grocery shopping has been done. The pantry and freezer are full. There are presents under the tree. We’re ready for our family celebrations.

I am, however, glad to note that the solstice has come. I’m ready for days that are a bit longer. I’ve always been one to be awake in the night, so the dark isn’t a big bother to me, but I admit that I am ready for longer days, later sunsets, and a bit more sunshine. We live in a place with more cloudy days than any other place we have lived and we notice the effect that the clouds have on our moods. A few more sunny days will do a lot to lift our spirits.

In the meantime, we are cozy in our home and enjoying our fireplace a great deal. Spring is coming. Patience is what we need.