The Winter Solstice celebrates the return of the sun, in that the days begin to grow longer (on December 23rd, actually, as the Solstice period is about 6 days total). This return hasn’t been very evident around here until yesterday.
The skies cleared overnight, revealing starry skies, and, early in the morning, a huge, thin crescent moon rising above the Coast Range. It shed a buttery light that Michelle remarked made it look as if it were candlelit.
When the sun came out, our “homestead” transformed. Our heavy snows look quite lovely in sunlight.
Looking toward the veranda (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
The icicle continues to grow… (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Tree tops in the windbreak (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Looking southward, where the sun crosses the Coast Range (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Sun-kissed cabin (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Ironically, we spent so much time taking photos that by the time I got around to digging the solar panels out of the snow, the sun had passed behind the ridge, so we didn’t harvest any power from direct sunlight.
Today, the wind’s howling at somewhere above 35 knots. Blowing snow fills the air. I’m glad we appreciated the sunshine while we had it!
These photographs are lovely, but hint at the surreal. I know it’s not warm and I know it’s going to melt and make a royal mess. BUT, clearly it is to be enjoyed now, as it is. In the city we’d have it covered with ash and car exhaust by now.
I actually did cover some of it with ash, Mom. I emptied the ash drawer from the wood stove out on the path to the solar panels, but the snow covered it in minutes.
Amazing photos!