I’m not exactly sure if the Winter Solstice should be celebrated on the 21st December each year in the Northern Hemisphere, or on the shortest day which could be the 21st or the 22nd. The actual solstice itself, is just a moment which occurs when the earth’s tilt is furthest from the Sun, so the Sun’s path across the daytime sky, when it reaches the maximum height, is the lowest of the year. In the Southern Hemishere the seasons are reversed so the winter solstice is around June 21st and they will be having a Summer solstice or longest day while we are urging the Sun to start coming back again, here in the North.

Probably the best thing to do on the eve of the longest night is to create some light and warmth by lighting a fire, and making merry, so it’s lucky that I still have one portion of barbecue charcoal left, and some wood offcuts from the log pile. There’s still some snow on the ground too, so that’s very appropriate.

logs for the Winter Solstice fire