On Sat, Dec 21, 2024, at 4:21 AM, the winter solstice occurred in the northern hemisphere. Alice and I rolled out of bed about 40 minutes later and ran(okay, that’s a lie… No running is allowed before coffee) to make our way out into the yard as quickly as we could. Like two kids scrambling to get to the Christmas tree first, we were greeted with the greatest gift from nature we could hope for to start off the winter season: a fresh layer of snow had been left for us to appreciate and enjoy, and be reminded that there is an endless abundance of beauty and wonder in all of Nature’s creations, if one is willing to embrace them with a positive perspective.
The temperatures were in the low 20s Fahrenheit, the skies were cloudy, and there was but a whisper of a breeze, just enough to move the wind chimes around ever so softly, contrasting with the otherwise silent Street several feet away. We had our morning coffee, as we do every day, and made plans to come back outside a little more than 2 hours later to share the Sunrise’s first kiss on the mouth of the fledgling hibernal season. The local forecast promised a high of 27 and a low of 8°, which is to say that Winter is back, and she ain’t gonna be messin’ around.
To properly set the tone for the series that begins with this essay, I think it’s important to start with some background information about the least popular but most awe-inspiring season of the year. The Google AI Bot tells us that ” The “hibernal solstice” is another term for the “winter solstice,” which is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, occurring when the Earth’s axis is tilted furthest away from the sun; essentially marking the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.”
If you dig a little deeper, you will discover that there is a rich history of celebrations that have taken place to commemorate the shortest day of the year. Once more, from our AI bot, we are told these rituals and celebrations go back as far as the Neolithic Age (10000 BC) at places such as Newgrange, Ireland, Stonehenge, Iran, Scandinavia, and Peru, to name a few. Further, “Cultures around the world have long celebrated the winter solstice with feasts and holidays, and fire and light are traditional symbols.”
It’s instructive to consider just how much appreciation we have lost by civilizing our species, spoiling ourselves with boots, hats, gloves, mittens, and heavy coats… And heated living spaces with windows and doors, along with heated motorized vehicles such as we have, that we have taught ourselves to piss and moan and complain about winter and cold weather that we have come to consider our disdain for winter to be normal. I don’t judge, however, because I am no different, or at least I wasn’t until I decided to flip my opinion of winter seasons around into one of respect and appreciation.
Our ancestors honored the winter solstice “as a representation of new beginnings as people welcome in the next season.” They understood that each new day ahead would see more daylight than the day before, that the days would be getting longer, and that the Sun would provide more warmth, giving them hope and new things to look forward to. I suggest we could learn a thing or two from our ancestors that we have allowed ourselves to forget over the Millennia since those earliest days. The Hibernal Journal, intending to see the glass is half full rather than half empty, starts off today with the greatest appreciation of knowing that each of the 90 days before the vernal equinox will be spent loving on the season long- underappreciated but, by its very nature, designed to offer hope and promise for incredible days yet ahead.
