First Day of the Year That Is Longer Than the Day Before It

[Mel Fulks]

I think you all would be happier with a North - South line drawn on the ceiling of south facing window. After you do that ….place a small
mirror on the sill directly under the line. Over time you can mark the location of special days on the line and watch for them. “Amaze your
friends”. There are many old out door noon marks that go unused and even un-noticed , some are even built into monuments.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Every year my tired old bones care less and less over nit picking the "days get shorter/days get longer" part of the solstice - be it Winter or Summer.


I'm just happy that it will get light a little earlier and stay light a little longer for the next 6 months.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Six months ago we had a flock of Starlings gather in our and the neighbors back yards. Hundreds of them. They have shown up precisely on the longest day of the year every year for as long as I have been paying attention to such things. It is amazing to me. We just received a Christmas card personalized by the sender with a line from Dante.
"And thence we came forth to see again the stars" I sure do share Thomas Wilson's sentiment. Thanks for the reminder. -Maurice

[Bill Dufour]

I graduated high school in '72, so now there's an explanation as to why it seemed like it'd never end!!
(even if it WAS only 5 months of actual school!)

But it was only two seconds longer then mine five years latter.
Bill D

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I don't like the hot sweaty summers most folks in the Mid Atlantic and south eastern states have. However, I am a big fan of more daylight. Between the overcast sky and early sunset, yesterday I was feeding cattle in the dark at 4:45 pm. I visited Washburn ND the last week of June almost 30 years ago. The daylight lasted from about 5:30 am to almost 10 pm. If it wasn't for the incredibly dark and cold winters, I would have moved there.

I spent three years in Miami, and there is not much as difference in the amount of day light from winter to summer as here in PA. Something about 80 degrees and dark at 5:00 pm seemed so very wrong to this northern boy. Sunrise to sunset on the longest day is only 13hrs 45 minutes shortest is 10 hrs 30 minutes. Here in PA, the shortest sunrise to sunset is 9 hr 20 minutes. The longest is exactly 15 hours. IN Washburn ND shortest sunrise to sunset is 8 hrs 28 mins and longest is 15hrs 57 mins. Calgary 7 hrs 57 mins vs 16 hrs 17 mins None of these include morning or evening twilight which can be an hour each. One of those if I won the lottery, spending winter in the Southern hemisphere would be nice.

[Curt Harms]

It always seems to me that it is well into January before the days really start to feel longer.

SWMBO was born in Philadelphia and Benjamin Franklin is something of a patron saint. She celebrates Franklin's birthday - January 17 - because by then the days are noticeably longer. She's not a fan of short cold days either.

[Steve Demuth]

But as an avid gardener, everything takes a sharp turn when March arrives.

My wife and I are dedicated growers as well, with gardens for food, flowers, and fiber (she grows a large garden for natural dyes and for linen production), and a large orchard. One thing I really like about winter is that all that is put temporarily on hold by the short days and cold. From roughly November 1st, through late February, the only thing we do that is garden related is eat or use the products of last year's efforts. The one exception is forcing amaryllis flowers to add some natural color to the sun side of the house, and cracking and processing nuts harvested from the orchard in the fall. Then in late February, we're pretty well pumped to get back to growing, starting with planting cool season crops in the greenhouse.

We note the ebb and flow of daylength, and when I was working, I did find the months when I both left for work and returned from work in the dark a bit trying. Other than that, I enjoy the swing of the seasons.

My daughter, who lived for some years well North of the Arctic Circle, in Yukon Territory, and who now studies and teaches on the Arctic environment, history, and ethnography, has related many stories of the adaptations of the native people she lived with to the far more dramatic swings in daylength there (in the village she lived in, the sun went down in early November, and didn't rise again until late January; and likewise, there was a single "day" from early May to late July). People there (who lived very outdoor lives in general), slept 12 hours or more a day in the deep of winter, and only 5 or 6 hours max during high summer. But troubles with alcohol and drugs also increased markedly in the dark months.

[Roger Feeley]

I think you're early, today Dec 21st is the shortest day, tomorrow is the first day which is longer than the day before. Of course this assumes you are north of the equator.

Doug, you might be right or not. The winter solstice doesn’t always fall on the 21st. It is my birthday and my mother used to joke that, “It was a daaaark day when you were born.” I quote her from time to time and an amateur astronomer told me that the calendar and solar events don’t always match. I freely admit that i took him at word value and never checked for myself.

I think it’s a leap year thing.

[Roger Feeley]

Today is my birthday and I've always considered it ironic that I was born on the shortest day. I'm very definitely a summer person!

My birthday too but I’m a winter person.

[Bill Dufour]

My middle brother was born in October, during the seventh inning stretch.
Bill D

[Doug Garson]

Doug, you might be right or not. The winter solstice doesn’t always fall on the 21st. It is my birthday and my mother used to joke that, “It was a daaaark day when you were born.” I quote her from time to time and an amateur astronomer told me that the calendar and solar events don’t always match. I freely admit that i took him at word value and never checked for myself.

I think it’s a leap year thing.

According to the Almanac "The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which occurs on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, at 10:59 A.M. EST. "

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Fish are jumping and the cotton is somewhere down south.

[Thomas Wilson]

“Catfish are jumping, paddle wheel thumping. Black water keeps rolling in past just the same.”

It has been a fine day with the sun reaching as far north as it can this year.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

We avoided the Black Water of the Big Muddy but did make it to an abandoned strip mine for a dip. It is one of the only swimming holes that remains safe for swimming in our county. Giving the Doobie Brothers and Greshwin a spin right now! Wes Montgomery's version of Summertime is my favorite. Etta James and Eva Cassidy are tied for second. Happy summer to all!

[Lee DeRaud]

The Earth's rotation is slowing due to tidal forces from the moon, so every day is longer than the one before it.

(Not a LOT, mind you, but over time these things add up. )