This evening at about 4.48pm Eastern Time, the Northern Hemisphere will be tilted farthest away from the Sun until this time next year. And as of tomorrow, the daylight will once again be getting longer.
Our orbit around the sun is nearly circular at this point in our astronomical calendar (sometimes it is more elliptical), and the Earth will actually be marginally closer to the Sun - at its closest point in the year - in a couple of weeks. It will be furthest away a couple of weeks after the summer solstice.
There are three features of our orbital position that are important: the degree of tilt, how elliptical the orbit is, and the ‘wobble’ of the Earth on its axis. All three change over time and have different timescales. As they interact, they create ice ages every 100,000 years or so among many other impacts on our climate and ecosystems.
It’s all very macro.
And cool. In our lifetimes, all of these features appear constant because their timescales of change are thousands and mostly tens of thousands of years in duration. But they’re not constant. Our world and its place in the universe is ever changing by tiny degrees.
At the micro level though, we humans get to experience the everyday - the change in shadow and sunlight, temperature and moisture - on our skin, our crops, our grass. Buds are already there on the end of the dogwood branches waiting for more sunlight to trigger their growth. Tulips are underground ready to feel some warmth. The brown beech leaves will hang on until the new spring growth pushes them off.
And while the light is now increasing, the depth of winter is still coming. This week in East Tennessee, we will have (Fahrenheit) temps in the single digits (-14 C or so).
The birds will need all the fatty suet-cakes we’ve got, and fresh, non-frozen water frequently. I once watched seven bluebirds all pile into a single nest box overnight in January so that they could stay warm. Our shed (which is open at the roofline) will no doubt accumulate some squirrels and other sundry wildlife trying to stay warm. A screech owl is occasionally there in the winter. The untold number of bunnies under the shed will be just fine in their burrows.
Although it would be cool to somehow witness the macro shift of planets over millennia, I love that we get to witness the micro. All the daily struggles and triumphs of a world, or a backyard, getting through the season and adjusting to the light again.
Happy Solstice to you! May your day be cozy, warm, and may more light filter into your homes and hearts every day. (Well, until June anyway….)
My favorite day of the year -- when the light starts it’s return! When I was younger this was always just the “first day of winter” to me and it was blah. As an adult, it’s now my favorite day of the year as it starts the return of longer, sunshiney days! I live in West Central Florida specifically for the sunshine 😎
“All the daily struggles and triumphs of a world, or a backyard, getting through the season and adjusting to the light again. “
I love this.
Kinda hope this is happening in our country, and our world, too.
And then - I just read about the Taliban shutting women out of universities again, and find myself wondering - where is the light there?
But I digress....