Winter Solstice

Today is winter solstice, a day I ordinarily pay no attention to and rarely even notice.  Today, however, winter solstice is not only noticed, but celebrated in my heart.  Night has peaked and each day will now bring a little more sunshine into our lives.  Today the sun rose at 10:00 and set at 4:00 on the horizon but our southern horizon is a mountain so we see much less of our yellow friend.  I caught my last glimpse of it at 2:00 as it lazily slid out of sight below it's stone blanket.  I look forward to watching it awaken from it's slumber and smile down on us.

While we know we'll be getting more sunlight, we also recognize winter has only begun its dance across our landscape.  We already get snow so often it almost goes unnoticed and we now keep a constant layer of ice in the village.  It may snow for a while, but it will then begin to melt and then rain joins in the symphony to become one with the slush as night falls and the temperatures drop.  Add a fresh layer of snow on top and it becomes a slippery, treacherous journey from the house to the school.  The temperatures seem content to stay in the 20s and 30s, and anything above freezing now feels like nice weather.  I don't know what else Alaska has waiting for us as winter deepens, but I'll be seeing it with more and more sunlight each day so I'm looking forward to it.