Half-full or half-empty?
Today marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, that tipping point in our solar year.
What it means for us is two things -- two very different things to me.
The day marks the shortest day of the year. From this point until June 21 the days will grow longer. This is good news. Heck, it's great news.
Sunsets that arrive at 4:30 p.m. are downright depressing, methinks. The thought that, theoretically if not meteorologically, we'll see more sunlight is reason to believe that maybe I can make it through the dreary monotony of winter. The optimist in me rejoices.
Unfortunately, the pessimist in me routinely beats the crap out of the optimist in me. The pessimist wins again today, trumpeting the second meaning of the winter solstice.
Today also represents the first official day of winter. Now that's just plain disheartening. The past month of winter conditions doesn't even count? Not the eight-inch snowfalls or the sub-zero temperatures? Hmmm. It certainly has felt like winter around here for some time. I feel cheated somehow, as if we should get some winter credit for what we've already endured this month. Perhaps we could have the last month of winter, scheduled to end on March 21, wiped out in exchange for what we've experienced since November? I could deal with that. The prospect of a winter ending in February appeals to me.
The thought of three more months of ice, snow and cold temperatures -- likely to be harsher than what November and December brought -- still ahead of us? Not so much.
What this boils down to is perception. I'm not much of a half-full glass kind of guy. But I'm not merely a half-empty guy, either. I'm definitely more of a Who-robbed-me-of-half-the-contents-of-my-glass? guy.
So how do you view this day?
What it means for us is two things -- two very different things to me.
The day marks the shortest day of the year. From this point until June 21 the days will grow longer. This is good news. Heck, it's great news.
Sunsets that arrive at 4:30 p.m. are downright depressing, methinks. The thought that, theoretically if not meteorologically, we'll see more sunlight is reason to believe that maybe I can make it through the dreary monotony of winter. The optimist in me rejoices.
Unfortunately, the pessimist in me routinely beats the crap out of the optimist in me. The pessimist wins again today, trumpeting the second meaning of the winter solstice.
Today also represents the first official day of winter. Now that's just plain disheartening. The past month of winter conditions doesn't even count? Not the eight-inch snowfalls or the sub-zero temperatures? Hmmm. It certainly has felt like winter around here for some time. I feel cheated somehow, as if we should get some winter credit for what we've already endured this month. Perhaps we could have the last month of winter, scheduled to end on March 21, wiped out in exchange for what we've experienced since November? I could deal with that. The prospect of a winter ending in February appeals to me.
The thought of three more months of ice, snow and cold temperatures -- likely to be harsher than what November and December brought -- still ahead of us? Not so much.
What this boils down to is perception. I'm not much of a half-full glass kind of guy. But I'm not merely a half-empty guy, either. I'm definitely more of a Who-robbed-me-of-half-the-contents-of-my-glass? guy.
So how do you view this day?
posted by RTG at 4:09 PM
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