Winter solstice occurs Monday, the 21st, at 10:59 a.m., the Sun entering Deep Winter's astrological sign of Capricorn at the same time. The night reaches its longest span of the year on December 19 and it remains at that length until the 26th, when the Sun's declination finally starts its journey to the heights of June.
And under the snow, so close to the solstice, all of power of spring and the summer has been spent, pushed to the Gulf of Mexico by the great waves of Arctic air.
But far to the south, the axis of Earth obeys the laws of its spin, and the cold starts to weaken and loses momentum, and winter and summer balance on a fulcrum as thin as a twig or a string.
And somewhere between the marshes of Glynn in the wetlands of Georgia and the Everglades swamps or the end of Florida's keys somewhere between them like the change of the tide, the poles are reversing. Instead of receding, the warmth is returning and stirring the coals far far within of the distant impossible core of the spring
This is Bill Felker with Poor Will's Almanack. I’ll be back again next week with notes for the third week of Early Winter. In the meantime, this week and next are the fulcrum of the year. Hang on tight as Earth choses light and warmth for the Northern Hemisphere.
