The Sun Stands Still

12/18/05 – 12/24/05

By C. Zaitz

Winter has come to stay, it seems. The cold weather has frozen the remainder of the autumn leaves into their last position before the snowfall smothered them. We are near the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. The winter solstice falls on December 21, 1:35 pm this year. A solstice is not quite as popular as an equinox, perhaps because it is a time of stagnation, whereas the equinox marks the rapid changing of the season. Both words are from Latin, but solstice means “sun stands still.” During the equinox, both fall and spring, the sun’s altitude is rapidly changing in the sky, but during the solstice, the altitude of the sun seems constant for weeks. Right now it’s stuck on “low” which means weak sunlight, short hours of daylight, and cold long dark nights. Is it any wonder we try to light up the night with pretty colored lights?

Long ago people had celebrations and ceremonies during the solstice. They might not have been so sure that the sun would ever warm them again, or make their crops grow, so sacrifices and offerings were made to Sol, the sun. Nowadays we have many different celebrations at this time of year, but most are focused on bringing light and cheer to this gloomy and poorly lit season in the northern hemisphere.

I don’t know if you have ever read the poetry of Robert W. Service, but this is the time of year that makes me think of the poem, The Cremation of Sam Mcgee. Here are two random verses that make me think of winter’s chill:

“There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold;The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did seeWas that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.

On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.”

It’s an amusing poem, and the images of ice and cold go right through my bones. The land of the midnight sun refers to the arctic zone where the sun never makes it above the horizon. Here in Michigan the sun makes a weak attempt at rising, but it never does get more than a third of the way up to the zenith, even at noon at this time of year. The path it makes across the sky is short, shallow, and pretty ineffective, as we have noticed the lack of warmth!

One interesting thing you may notice is the colors and patterns you see in the sky. Sunrises can be glorious reflecting off icy clouds, and sunsets streak the cold cirrus-strewn sky with vibrant tints. Venus and Mars will be the early evening bright points in the sky, Venus will be closest to the setting sun, and in the morning Saturn will be high in the sky as Jupiter rises in the east just before the sun, almost lost in its glow.

Until next week, my friends, enjoy the beautiful view!