I like winter solstice as I watch the days get shorter and shorter. I eagerly wait until the days start to get longer and we move toward spring. I also like the folklore connected to winter solstice. Ancient peoples had a variety of celebrations for the day. They also were fairly exact in pinpointing the time of the solstice.
So with all this in mind, I decided to follow the solstice a little closer at my place. I decided to go out and photograph the afternoon every hour to show how the day takes it's course.
The first two photos were taken at 2:00 PM. The first one looking south and the second looking north.
The next tow photos were taken at 3:00 PM. The cloud thickened slightly.
The next two photos were taken at 4:00 PM. The sun sets at 4:26 PM.
This photo shows the west were the sun set at 5;00 PM
The last three photos were taken at 5:00 Pm. It's hard to show darkness with all the street lights.
So today the sun rose at 8:42 AM and set at 4:24 PM. It gave us 7 hours, 41 minutes and 47 seconds of the sun being up.
There are certain Christmas events that I like to attend. One of those is a very large display of creches.
One of the LDS (Latter Day Saints) churches here puts on a very large display of creches. We visited it last night. They had over three hundred examples of creches on display.
You remember that I did a post on this last year. This year the had a different lighting system and it was difficult to take photos.
I may end up using some of last year's photos.
There are creches made from many , many materials...wood, plastic, china, paper, fabric, metal. Creches come from all over the world. Quality goes from trash to great handicraft and artistic talent.
My favorite is the second photo which is an Inuit print. I think I singled that one out from last year too.
Sometimes we wear funny clothes here. Yes, we wear winter clothing which is much different than what some of you wear. We do have some very stylish winter clothing. I don't wear the stylish stuff.
This post is on something else about our clothing.
I was at my favorite place for lunch (Wendys) the other day and there were quite a few kids of the 7 -8 year variety. These kids were soccer players. 90% of our soccer is played on outdoors fields. We have some indoor soccer fields suitable for winter play but only the top leagues have enough money to use indoor facilities.
So most of the little kids wait for spring to begin their soccer league.
Now the other day in Wendys I saw one kid with terrible pink and yellow plastic soccer shoes. Then I noticed something else. He was wearing shorts! It's winter! Then I noticed that other kids were wearing shorts. The shorts just showed below their winter coat. What's more the winter boots came close the the bottom of the shorts.
I wish I had a picture of these little guys with their mixture of winter and summer clothing, but I don't have a phone so no photos.
Now I thought that was a funny mixture of winter and summer clothing!
Now for an 80 year old guy , I'm not too concerned about the image I have. I'm comfortable in my own skin.
I admit that I'm a little rumply. Sometimes it may be borderline unkempt. (My opinion) But when it comes time to present an acceptable look I can get my act together. If I'm around the yard , anything goes. If I have to go out well be decent.
So those shorts and belt just don't cut it compared to my neatly attired brother.
This isn't too bad for being at the barbecue for 200 gr sevens
...and I was pretty neat looking after textbooks for my department.
So what am I worried about now? My new neighbors shovel my walks before I can get out there. I live on a corner so there's lots to shovel. I thank them and say that we are both able to shovel. Well, they say we're out here so we might as well do it. I have another neighbor who will also shovel when I'm not looking.
What is this? I like it and appreciate it. But am I presenting the image of an old man who needs help shoveling? Have I fallen down in the snow lately?
None of these is the case. I just have very nice neighbors. Oh yes I do get a chance to shovel their walks sometimes! It's fun.
November can give us some very nice sunsets. The sun is lower in the sky and there's more time between sunset and dark. These photos were taken just before 5:00 PM.
The white line across the center of the above photo is the top of some one's fence.
There's a bit of snow on the mountain ash berries .
Winter skies can be colorful.
When I lived in the Arctic and the sun didn't rise above the horizon for six weeks we had many colorful skies. We had light from around 11:00 AM to 2:00 Pm. It was like a three hour sunset.
I like music. I don't sing or play an instrument. I like listening to a wide variety of music. It would be easier to say what I don't like than what I do like. I don't like rap or modern country.
Several bloggers have had some very good pieces on music lately.
I have (had) two main sources of music that I go to.
I have a favorite radio station that plays a wide variety of music and provides commentary on everything they play. All of their DJs have a tremendous amount of knowledge about the music they play. I love it. Check out CKUA.com
Now there used to be a very fine radio program called the Vinyl Cafe hosted by Stuart Mclean. Unfortunately Stuart passed away.
Stuart had a one hour radio show every Sunday at noon. He had music , stories, interviews and games.
Stuart had his Dave and Morley stories .Dave was a bumbling idiot and Morley kept things together. A favorite Canadian Christmas story is Dave Cooks a Turkey.
Stuart always tried to find music from performers who were not well known. So some of the music I like comes from the Vinyl Cafe
Three singers stand out for me: Sarah Harmer, little Miss Higgins and Connie Caldor.
Sarah Harmer is a singer songwriter. Many of her songs are about the country. Give a listen to Oleander. She sings a song to this tough little plant. Little Miss Higgins is more comedy. She's forceful and lively. One of her songs is about buying underwear in a thrift shop. Connie Caldor sings heavier stuff about women's rights but has a haunting strong voice.
Now since I've discovered you tube I can find these performers and listen to them. So if you're interested take a look for these performers and give a listen.
Building a house the way ours was built certainly led to some chaos. Not everything could be under control.
Some of the things that happened were very funny and remained family stories.
Some how or other,we came into possession of a little billy goat. In 1947 our grandparents had retired into the little village. In those days there weren't coolers or freezers and you couldn't buy milk. Some of the villagers had a cows and sometimes you could buy milk from them. Some how or other, Grandpa came into possession of a nanny goat that he thought would give him enough milk. Surprise , surprise , the nanny promptly had 3 kids. Just what grandpa wanted! But wait . Grandpa had three sons so each son got a little goat. Grandpa thought his grandchildren would like a goat for a pet. We did.
Our goat was Billy. Billy thought he was a little kid ...I mean a little human kid. Billy played with us all day. Billy was smarter than all four of us put together. Billy got his way. Billy was a nuisance
We moved into the house as soon as it was closed in but not finished. There was a plank ramp up into the kitchen. Some how or other Mom was distracted and had left all the breakfast dishes on the table and was out in the yard. The kitchen door had not been closed. From a distance someone noticed billy going up the ramp. No one was in the house. By the time we got in the house Billy was on top of the breakfast table. Billy had already cleaned out the butter dish! We were surprised.
Shortly after that Billy disappeared. Dad had had enough of poor Billy. I think Billy was passed on to someone who needed some meat. That's one thing Dad never ever told us.
