[Closed] She’s turned around and is on her way back ....

Fantastic, I miss her terribly

Yay!! 😁

I'd always thought I hated December because we were stupidly busy preparing for Christmas, organising the kids for a dozen shows and concerts and running our big Scout fundraiser.

Nope, turns out I just really hate December. Luke a very focused time bound case of SAD.

I love January. At the beginning, just knowing that theoretically the days are getting longer is enough to boost my mood. By the end of the month you can see it for real. Fan-bloody-tastic.

Ling looks a bit different.

Useless fact - the latest sunrise isn't until the end of the month, but the earliest sunset happened 10 days or so ago. So good news if you're an evening person, bad news if you're a morning person.

So good news if you’re an evening person, bad news if you’re a morning person.

I am a morning person, but still prefer my extra light to be in the evening 🙂

Whoop whoop.

This time of year is pretty depressing, dark when you start work, dark when you finish.

Yeah, remember those days. Worked in a office with heavily tinted windows. Barely saw daylight at all 5 days a week.

Equinox 2021 will be at 09:37 on
Saturday, 20 March

Daffodils are out near my shop.

Seen the postie in shorts already.

I love that picture OP. Always a joy to see it. 👍

The darkest hour is just before dawn & all that sort of thing.

I love it too (thanks Jo Burt!) I’ve been posting it for many years now and it always gives me a thrill to think that she is on her way back. This year more than ever

Took me a while to work this out......

I thought Ling had abandoned her ride...

Yes longer days are on the way!!

Keep it up jj55... made me smile (again).

Agree, good work jj55, I look forward to this thread every year. 🙂

Seconding the love for that picture. 🙂

Useless fact – the latest sunrise isn’t until the end of the month, but the earliest sunset happened 10 days or so ago. So good news if you’re an evening person, bad news if you’re a morning person.

Oh, I like that! 🙂

Our (male) postie has been in shorts every day this winter. His female counterpart has much better legs but much less bodyfat, so has been in long trousers since October.

My wife has long said that she'd prefer to celebrate the solstice than some pseudo-Christian festival. This year we're making the first step by letting the kids open a present tonight to celebrate the solstice 🙂

Thanks jj55. Lightened my sombre mood this morning.

Thank $¥#$₩$○♡~• for that!

I'm usually quite philosophical about winter, dark, cold but that's an excuse for socialising and slap up meals.

Needless to say I am not loving the current state of play.

There's a great poem, "A Nocturne Upon St Lucy's day by John Dunne which is all about the shortest day

Searched the front page hoping this thread would be here 😀

Great picture, always nice to see it. I'll just go full on pedant and point out the sun is actually closer to the earth now than at any other time of the year.

I went to bed last night thinking, hoping and knowing this thread would be here today. I'm not normally like this, but as I am currently sitting out of riding for 5 weeks minimum with a busted thumb and this year has been a shite one, I am really glad of it.

To be honest, other than organised away trips for riding with buddies and having had our family holiday in Greece cancelled, this year hasn't hit me anywhere near as badly as it probably has most people. For that I am truly grateful, but it still doesn't mean I'm not hankering after something much better for next year.

Fun fact 2: tomorrow is actually the longest day of the year.

I was out bivvying last night as I often do on the Winter Solstice. It feels more "connected" than celebrating on 25th or 31st/1st.

9th Jan is the day sunrise & sunset start getting respectively earlier & later. Or it is in that there Landaaarrnn Tannn...

🌞😎🌄🌻

I love that picture, it reminds me so much of my favourite part of the NY moors (looking from great Broughton to Carlton), and the fact you can define time and life in a 3-point sign post.

I’m sure there is some COVID induced influence but I can’t help feeling this winter so far has been bloody miserable so far down in the west. Seems to have been wet non stop for months, with only a brief spell of high pressure.

hoping for some dry and cold in jan/feb.

We spent a lot of time together this year and I've missed her. I really worry I won't see her again.

We’ll see her again!! And it will be glorious!!

We are actually closest to her now, in our elliptical orbit. This is why we notice that latest sunrise doesn't coincide with shortest day. We are closest, and zooming around her quickest. So the distance at travel about her, in 24 hours is greatest. The result is, 24 hours of earth rotation doesn't bring a point on the surface at dawn back to dawn, it's still on the dark and the earth needs to spin a bit more hence a later dawn. That's easier to understand if you see it drawn on out! Similar affect with earliest dawn and latest dusk occurs in mid summer but much less noticeable, only a day or two shift from equinox

Got to admit I'm amazed that Jo B never created a dark haired evil doppleganger to bully us over the winter months. Probably called Louise.

EDIT: I've just tried to find an image to illustrate this. Golly, those fantasy artists like their boobs and thigh high boots...

The result is, 24 hours of earth rotation doesn’t bring a point on the surface at dawn back to dawn, it’s still on the dark and the earth needs to spin a bit more hence a later dawn.

Which is why tomorrow is the longest day.

The longer daylight hours of March can't come soon enough, the reduction of outdoor rides since September has made getting to this point really drag and already I feel fatigued as I'd normally feel in Jan/Feb as a result of SAD (the madness at work that has gone into hyperdrive this past month hasn't helped, neither has all the Covid drama in chez notg this year).

About the only short term blessing for me is tomorrow is my last shift before Xmas, I'm then off until next Tuesday and after next Wednesday's shift I have a ~1.5 week break from work. With a lot of luck, a lot of that time off will be dry and not blowing a gale, so I can get some outdoor riding in... I'm not sure if I've done a 35+ mile outdoor ride since mid September. 🙁

I’ll just go full on pedant and point out the sun is actually closer to the earth now than at any other time of the year.

Apart from at the beginning of January 😉

I'm lucky in that my favourite times of year are March-June and September-November so I don't have to wait too long during winter for my fun times to return. Still love the Jo Burt artwork around spring being closer though, such a well-judged series of pictures.

This time of year is pretty depressing, dark when you start work, dark when you finish.

Even though I've worked outdoors for over the last decade it still was depressing to be riding to and from work with the bike lights on full 'Don't Kill Me!!' mode, not helped by 10-12 hr days. Thankfully I can get out during the day thanks to not having a job, got to look for the positives!

Which is why tomorrow is the longest day.

Er shortest you mean Colin?

No it's why the shortest day doesn't coincide with the latest dawn/earliest dusk. The 3 things occur on surgery dates with the latest dawn being the most noticeably offset, in early January.

😁😃😄😆

I can’t wait, it was so wet today at FOD, the pump track had a deep end.

Which is why tomorrow is the longest day.

Er shortest you mean Colin?

Longest day for the whole planet. Days are not all exactly 24 hrs. 22nd December is the longest day, the one on which the Earth has to spin most.

'Celebrated' with a dram of Highland Park, 17 The Dark.

Tasty

^ he's right.
Plus it continues to get darker in the morning still.

Ah I see what you mean, yes, longest day...I guess it's something like 24 hours and 3 minutes...ish.