Summer Is Coming

Here is a very interesting quirk of nature. Today is the Winter Solstice, the day with the shortest daylight and the longest amount of night; it is the official first day of winter.

Here is the quirk part: the coldest two or three months of the year are ahead of us, yet each day from tomorrow till June, there will be more daylight than the day before. More sunshine, colder temperatures … go figure.

As is often the case, nature provides an interesting balance. Winter is a pain in the butt, with depressingly cold temperatures and bad weather conditions including ice and snow. But each day is longer, providing more depression-relieving sunshine as well as the optimistic reminder that summer is coming.

Of course, all of this applies to the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, today is the longest day and the Summer Solstice.

Santa Claus could be wearing a Speedo in Sydney.