The Winter Solstice has come, Midwinter’s Night, or, for those completely out of touch with the reality of our hemisphere’s seasons, “the first day of winter.” Ironically, it does feel more like the beginning of winter than the middle, on our homestead today. Unlike last year, when our rocks were bound in sea spray ice, it’s pretty balmy, 38° outside the cabin this morning. This is much more in keeping with the week before Christmas in our part of Alaska, when a warm spell seems more usual than cold. What’s unusual is the lack of rain that usually accompanies the warm temperatures. I measured 36% humidity this morning. We could be drying laundry on the line! However, with the gale that’s blowing, we could have rain at any moment.
We’ll have 6 hours and 8 minutes today, 2 whole minutes more than our neighbors in Haines to the north of us will see.
A cloudy, stormy Winter Solstice on the Zeiger Homestead this year (Photo: Mark Zeiger).
