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The winter solstice is oft observe
To go unnoticed by those that live it. The sun soon hidden by the planet Should be cause to those concerned To find any reason to be assured Nature isn’t thinking how to can it. Whether sky or screen, we might scan it And through our study become allured. Taught science and less of fantasy, We lose the romance of lives that formed us. Story yields to facts forgotten. Slow movement is hard for us to see. Praised most by those who scorned fuss From movement of an orb we’re not besotten.
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In the United States, there are some public celebrations of the winter solstice. These may be overtly religious, have customs that remind one of traditions associated with religious observances, or completely secular.
Here are a few examples of winter solstice celebrations you might find in the United States. Soyal is observed by the Hopi and other indigenous peoples in the southwestern United States. Soyal is a religious observance that is not open to outsiders, but there are dances where tourists are welcomed. Museums and other venues may offer events for children and adults. These might include creating art, listening to music, learning how different cultures celebrate the winter solstice, or walking a labyrinth. Curiously, on a night determined by the movement of celestial bodies, stargazing is not a top activity. After some internet searching, I found one astronomical society that offers an event with stargazing on the winter solstice. The winter solstice is not a particularly notable event for many in the United States. Even so, I was surprised by how few scientific events I could find. Then again, the winter solstice is only a few days before Christmas, which many people celebrate, so perhaps organizations don’t want to compete with the many Christmas events. Plus, a lot of people don’t want to go outside in the cold night. 1. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
This doesn’t mean that it’s the earliest sunset, because of the way humans record time compared to how nature moves in time (natural days are a bit more or less than 24 hours). 2. The winter solstice starts astronomical winter. That is, astronomers consider the winter solstice the first day of winter, but meteorologists consider December 1 to be the first day of winter (in the Northern Hemisphere). 3. The Southern Hemisphere has its winter solstice in June. This makes sense when you think about how the earth tilts as it moves around the sun. 4. At noon on the winter solstice, your shadow will be the longest it can be from natural sunlight. I want to know who measured their shadow at precisely noon for an entire year and who replicated the experiment to find out which day has the longest shadows. Or maybe this is something that was concluded from math but never actually tested. 5. The winter solstice changes dates. It is usually on December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. 6. A solstice is not an equinox. A solstice is the shortest or longest day of the year. An equinox is when the day and night are (more or less) equal. |
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