Solstice Reflections . . .
"The days get longer by a minute," says an optimistic Dad
When is winter? Based on Earth‘s tilt and orbit around the sun, it’s Dec. 21, 2025, through March 20, 2026.
My father adjusted to the winter and the December solstice with his oft-repeated phrase, “Shortest day of the year. From now on, every day will be longer by one minute.” Peter and I glanced at each other and snickered when he said it. Now WE say it every year, particularly on those long winter days that seem to endure for more than ever.
I believe we do it not only to remember him, but more so to reflect on his optimism, his eager sprint, albeit slowly, to the first day of baseball’s spring training and his beloved Red Sox.
He and I watched many of my kids’ baseball games during what was supposed to be April weather good enough to play ball. So many times, while we watched, we retreated to the car, turned on the engine and the heater to warm.
Our winter coats, scarves, and gloves were not enough to ward off the cold from painful toes and frosted fingertips. A ‘crack of the bat’ was a crack indeed, batters shaking their gloved hands as they sprinted to first base.
As we sat in the car, you might predict what Dad said? You bet. Spreading his gloved hands, “Every day gets longer by a minute,” laughing at the joke of the kids playing a baseball game in forty-degree weather. Frost notwithstanding, the game continued as did he.
The solstice marks the point at which the sun appears to stop its southward movement and begins moving northward again in the sky. The solstice — Latin for “sun still,” — is the moment when the sun rises and sets at its most southerly points on the horizon as seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
As I reflect on it, I realize there is a message in what he said. At the solstice, the sun is at its lowest angle in the sky, sending its shortest amount of daylight and warming energy. Nights are the longest. But the earth is tilting the other way, the sun will get higher, and longer days are approaching. Sure, it’s a slow process, but crocuses will soon stir in their winter beds.
The ancients celebrated the solstice as a turning point— the day that marks the return of the sun.
So too did my Dad. For him, the solstice was more than a long, cold, dark day with no end. It meant he was getting closer to spring, albeit slowly. It was an important milestone; the shortest day and the longest night signaling a transition, a change of season to be commemorated, as did the ancients.
For them, the winter solstice celebrated the longest hours of darkness, but more so, the continuing rebirth of the sun and its energy that meant regeneration, renewal, and reflection.
Make your transition from the shortest day to a longer moment of quiet energy wherein you focus on your intentions for the coming year. Examine and let go of your past distractions and poor decisions. Make changes. As the bats awaken, you too should feel their sting.
Celebrate. Resolve. Renew. As the light of the day gets longer, get outside, take a walk, even if it’s cold. Embrace it. Don’t complain.
And then get yourself to a warm space. Anticipate the crack of the bat. Spring is closer by a minute each day.
Ed, always nice to see December 21ST. As we await the longer days of light and spring into summer, those minutes that add up to longer days on one hand are delightful and on the other a minute or two that we have lost. So let the young enjoy and we older folks appreciate realizing it's taking time off the meter.
Oh, those baseball games, wrapped in the "car" afghan, crocheted by my mother, the 1970's saw many a supper eaten on the way to the field courtesy of McDonalds. I thought I was done, then in 2000 a grandson appeared, baseball reared its head again. At this age I would love to relive those nights again.