Saturday, December 21, 2013

Winter solstice - a gray day

It's the winter solstice today. The days now begin to lengthen and hope begins to return - hope that the warm sun will return and make everything green again. We had eight hours and 46 minutes of possible sunlight today. Actual views of Old Sol were zero. The sun was not seen here today.

So after a set and a fraction of tennis this morning and a quick lunch, I went to see if the solstice day would reveal any beauty, or at least something of interest. PP was off to a celebration of the solstice at Hiawatha Park in Minneapolis, UH was busy elsewhere and NCW is freezing in the north country yet. I also needed to do a bit of Christmas shopping and I also wanted a few minutes to have a sit down. I found these colorful red berries near Hamline where I went to walk a while outside. I think they are high bush cranberries, but I'm not the plant expert in this family.


The alley behind the homestead has been plowed, but the snow continues to build up and the pavement beneath won't be seen for a few more months. The grayness of the day is hard to hide.


I found this view of Hamline's Old Main on a day when the campus was nearly deserted. Classes are apparently over until after the holidays and the students have left for home.


So I went off to shop, into the crowded stores with my fellow citizens. From the looks of it, the economy is on an up tick.

3 comments:

Santini said...

Lovely red berries. I wouldn't recognize a cranberry unless in came in a can, or maybe a bag. Pretty though.

Good on 'ya for getting outside on the darkest day of the year.

Are you going to do a centennial post tomorrow?

Jimi said...

Yes I am. I knew you'd remember.

Santini said...

Of course I remembered. I have trouble remembering if her birthday is the 21st or the 22nd, myself.