Sunday, December 31, 2023

MY OBSESSION

      I consider myself to be a fairly balanced feet on the ground kind of person.

      However, when it comes to the winter solstice and the time immediately before and after, I become overly interested in time. 

     When I was little we did not get daily papers with sun rise and sunset times. I just sensed that the days got shorter and then longer. I did not know how much difference there was. 

     When I got a daily paper sunrise and sunset times were given. 

      Now there are detailed charts on line that give you the times down to the second.

     Dec. 21:   sun rise  8:42 Am : sun set at 4:24 PM. Daylight: 7 hours  41 minutes and 45 seconds  The day got shorter by .05 seconds

      Dec. 31  sunrise at 8:44 and sunset at 4:31. 7 hours 45 minutes and 59 seconds of daylight.   The daytime increased by one minute and one second!

     I watch for these changes as I want to see the light come back again. It's intriguing now that these figure are precise enough that the are calculated in seconds. 

     You can go to a site called timeanddate to see a chart with this info and much more. 

36 comments:

  1. If we only had 7 hours of daylight, I'd probably be obsessed with time as well

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    1. It probably sounds silly when your in your summer pattern.

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  2. Hi Red! I'm with you as I like to compare the changes in the times of the sunrise and sunset, especially at this time of the year. We're all ready for more sunlight!

    Happy New Year to you and the Mrs.!

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    1. Thanks for the greeting . It takes a while but increase in light starts to sped up.

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  3. These days, I just check the default weather app on my smart phone which also tells me the sunrise and sunset daily.

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  4. I am going to that site immediately Red - I am usually up well before six in the morning and eagerly watch for tiny signs that dawn is breaking. The flight of a whole rookery of rooks flying over with the coming of dawn is my indication that yes - it is just a teeny bit lighter. Happy New Year to you and your family.

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    1. Happy New Year to you and your family. I like getting up early but not that early!!!

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  5. I look forward to that one minute change of light. Take care, have a wonderful first week of January!

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    1. Yesterday it increased by one minute and one second so it's about to speed up.

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  6. According to Alexa, the sun just rose a few minutes ago. It is overcast so I can't tell. Besides it will still be low, and I can't see it from here. But blue hour is nice, and the opposite rooftops are frosty which is nice enough to look at.

    Happy New Year 🎇

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    1. Happy New year to you and your family. For a poor sleeper like you, you must see many sunrises.

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    1. Thanks and all the best to you and your family.

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  8. I use timeanddate all the time, and I also like to keep track of the differences in the daily comings and goings of the sunrise and sunset. Happy new year, Red!

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    1. If your on the computer, it only takes a second to look this up.

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  9. It always amazes me at how quickly the sunrise and sunset times change.

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    1. It's also the ranges in the northern and southern hemispheres.

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  10. It's interesting that the increase was only a minute in those ten days. It seems like I can already TELL the days are longer -- but maybe that's more my imagination than anything else.

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    1. Okay, it's the way I expressed myself. The increase of one minute and one second was from Dec. 30 to Dec. 31.

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  11. Oh, I think I misread what you were saying. Over the ten days it's more like a 3-minute increase, it looks like? (Still not enough to perceive without a stopwatch!)

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  12. I check timeanddate often. I love following the sunrise and sunset times. Happy New Year and enjoy your one more minute of sunlight! (NewRobin13)

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    1. Here the differences are large compared to where yo live.

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  13. My hubby is obsessive compulsive, and this includes time!

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    1. I exaggerate when I call it an obsession. I do watch it around the solstice but that's it.

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  14. I look forward to the days getting longer. Happy New Year Red!

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    1. We just feel better with longer days.

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  15. I always enjoy seeing the light come back too...even if it is seconds a day! Happy New Year Red!

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    1. It's got up to an increase of a minute a day and it increases after this.

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  16. Hi Red, TimeandDate is a great site. Astronomy has been one of my life-long interests. John

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    1. You have a lot of cool interests. I always enjoy your photos.

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  17. Here the subtle increase in daylight kind of depends on how much fog or cloud cover we have in the morning. The light is there, but not much yet for our eyes. We love the days when we have sunshine.

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    1. We've had some very bright sunshine for the last couple of weeks.

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  18. I always check timeanddate wherever I travel. I am looking forward to it being lighter earlier, I am a morning person and prefer to not be on the go in the dark, although lately I am.

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  19. I mentioned to you before (I think) how I never noticed the days getting shorter when I was a kid. I really do notice it now. In fact, I sleep a little longer since the light doesn't pour into the bedroom until much later now. I wish we'd put in light blocking shades for the summer.

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