A Very Special Winter Solstice

This year the Winter Solstice included once in a lifetime celestial events. A total  lunar eclipse with a full moon happened here tonight. Add to that the Ursids meteor shower peak and you have an incredible show. The darkness during the eclipse would have made the meteors visible.   All this on the longest night of the year. In times past people would stare in disbelief. We would have done some staring ourselves except for the fact that we had thick cloud cover. The sun couldn't break through, so what chance did the moon or meteors have. Of course a few clouds cannot diminish our excitement over the change in the path of the sun. No longer will it drop down in the southern sky. Starting tomorrow the sun will begin to climb in the sky. Tomorrow daylight will be just a littler longer. How can a cold climate gardener resist the chance to celebrate? Once winter arrives spring follows.

Winter Solstice

The garden is perfectly dressed in white for a winter solstice celebration. Starting today instead of less and less sunlight we begin to get more and more. It's just like reaching the top of a mountain. We have some distance to travel to reach spring, but now it's a downhill run all the way. Every day will be a little longer and the sun a little higher in the sky. Time to start getting serious about plans for next years garden.

Long Shadows

Now that the plants are blanketed with white, it's the stone walls that take the spotlight in the garden. The top of the stone wall is a great place to monitor the snow depth, and the melt-freeze process. The mourning doves love to sit on the top of this wall in between snacks at the bird feeder. Six on the wall at once is the current record.

The shadows are very long! The shadow of this wall completely covers the opening between the walls. We are still watching the sun move to its lowest point in the sky. Just one more week and the shadows will begin to shorten and the daylight hours will lengthen. You have to start to think about spring then. It's all down hill from there!