December 11 – Here it is only 4 o’clock on an overcast wintry day and it’s getting dark. I can hardly wait for the winter solstice. The onset of dim light and then darkness seems to be getting earlier in the afternoon this year. Or do I forget from year to year.
Official sunset times in Seattle seem to hover around 4:10 and 4:20 these days. Combined with sunrise times that means about 8 hours of daylight. Don’t feel gloomy – I just looked at one of my favorite blogs – Dances With Wool – the author lives in Northern Finland on the edge of the Arctic Circle where they have only 3 hours of daylight at this time of year. Sunrise around 11 and sunset around 2. By 5 o’clock one feels like it’s bedtime. I don’t know if I could take that. Seattle and Dublin are far enough north for me.
winter solstice sunrise at Stonehenge
photo credit: Wikipedia