Blessed Yule

Another Turning of the Wheel has started, and fittingly it's the coldest day in recent memory here at home-- midwinter darkness, indeed. Single digits this morning. Brrrrrrr....

Sunrise was at 7:10 this morning. The sun will set at 4:15 p.m. We live in darkness in Massachusetts in winter. Beh.

The INTERESTING thing is that today is not the date of the latest sunrise nor the earliest sunset here in eastern Mass. The latest sunrise doesn't come until New Year's Day, when the sun will rise at 7:14. The earliest sunset was back on Dec. 13th, when it went down at 4:12.

I'm not doing all the math to see if today actually is the shortest day, based on that. We're talking a matter of sheer minutes. Let's just round it out for Massachusetts and say that December and early January are entirely too dark around here. I can't fathom how people survive in Alaska. I really can't.

No real plans for the holiday today-- since I also celebrate Christmas as a family holiday, I usually just wait until Christmas Eve to celebrate. Besides, the Polish traditions of my grandparents are far richer than anything I can cook up myself. :)

But for my fellow Pagans who celebrate Yule-- a Blessed one to you.