It's the shortest day of the year finally!
We have just about made it to the Winter solstice which will occur at 11:19pm tonight marking the northern hemispheres furtherest tilt away from the sun. I always like to mark this day as it is the day when you can finally say the days are getting longer now. While it is easy to say that the day is darkest and saddest day of the year which I guess is kind of true; I like to think of it as the most hopeful day of the year. This is the day where the daylight is basically the lowest it can get, the days are not getting any shorter, the peak solar angle is not getting any lower. Basically everything is looking up after this point and it just makes it a lot easier to get through the day. I think this hope is what makes the day much more bearable than say early December when the days are short and getting shorter. I guess that is what looking at the positive is about.
I am starting to learn to enjoy the low sun angle though, it can make for some pretty scenery though, especially in the higher latitudes. In the higher latitudes(still below the arctic circle) the sun always stays at a much lower angle creating a constant golden hour. I'm always fascinated by the movement of the sun angle and the changes of the seasons, so solstice and equinox days are always a thrill for me. I definitely want to visit somewhere in the arctic on both the winter and summer solstices to see both polar midnight and midnight sun someday. Here is a video below from Fairbanks, Alaska showing a time lapse of the winter solstice that I love to watch on the winter solstice.