Solstice Greetings

Day 69: Solstice greetings, my friends! Dance the Holly! Dance the Mistletoe! The Light is now returning, and dark nights swiftly go! Here, there is snow on the ground and a nip in the air which is forecast to become a much firmer bite over the next two nights, but with the passing of this date, there is hope in the fact that darkness is losing its grip (at least in the northern hemisphere). How long will it be before you begin to notice a change in the length of day? It usually takes me about a week, maybe ten days before I say, "Hm...it's lighter later. Nice!" And believe me, to a Pacific Northwesterner, those few seconds or minutes are significant. You wouldn't think such a small change was noticeable, but we humans are governed by a biological clock which is more sensitive than we might imagine. The body becomes aware of lengthening daylight even before the mind recognizes it, and those of us who are affected by SAD (and what true Pacific Northwesterner is not?), we begin to feel more cheerful, more energetic. For certain, we understand that winter has only barely started, and that colder days are ahead of us, but those few seconds of extra light help us bear up under its assault. Soon, we'll find ourselves receiving another assist to our recovery from the "gloomies." The first seed catalogs will be coming in the mail, and that's a sure sign that spring is just around the corner!