Celebrate

Today is a day to celebrate. The winter solstice is upon us which means that beginning tomorrow, we will begin accruing daylight instead of losing it. Today, we will have only 9 hours and 48 minutes of daylight. By Saturday, we will have one additional minute, and the following Saturday, another minute more. By the middle of January, we'll have 10 hours and 3 minutes of daylight. And by January 31, we'll have 10 hours and 29 minutes. That day, the sun won't set until 4:54 p.m. in my latitude.

It seems a small thing, but for someone struggling to find joy, daylight is a balm that soothes the soul. While Saturday's weather was so gloomy and cold, we did enjoy an hour of bright sunshine right in the middle of the day. My husband told me that while golfing on the north side of town, the sun never broke through for him. I was so grateful for that brief hour of sunshine that I spent it chatting with the ranch owner with the sun shining full on my face.

I am more fortunate than most. Beginning Friday at noon, I have two weeks off which means that I can be at the barn much earlier in the day, and if it is cloudy or foggy, the sky will still be brighter than it would be at 3:30 when I would normally arrive. When I go back to work on January 9th, we will have 9 hours and 58 minutes of daylight, 10 full minutes more than today. It's not much, but it's a start. Each day we will gain a minute or more which will make the days not only feel longer, but less rushed.

Even if it is just by a minute.