Yippee

We have arrived. The day is here. The sun has reached its low point for the year. From here on in its all downhill. In no time the snow will be gone. If I listen closely I can almost hear the birds. I can almost envision buds on the trees. The smell of new life. Soon we will be golfing. I close my eyes. I can hear my neighbor mowing his grass. Wait a minute. That's his snowblower.

Okay. I know. I seem to have lost it. No, I am not drinking or smoking anything illegal. Actually not drinking or smoking anything legal either. This is what I do. I get excited about the fact that days are getting longer. More about that later. It is December 21.To me this date represents one small step towards the end of winter. I know January cometh. That is a challenge in itself.

Just as I get excited about experiencing more daylight each day, fully aware that it also marks the first day of winter when in fact we have already had winter for months, I have been reminded that that day also marks the end of the Mayan calendar. Some “experts” are suggesting that means a cataclysmic end to the world. At first blush that creates some anxiety. Then I am reminded of the Y2K debacle and my fear dissipates. No sense in worrying about that, I have bigger fish to fry.

Remember the comment I made about days getting longer? Do you ever stop to think what that sounds like? Days get longer? Excuse me. Don’t all days have twenty four hours? So how can days get longer? But if days have twenty four hours how many hours are there in a night. Because nights are part of days, right? If that is the case how can you have days and nights and only 24 hours? And then in spring when we go to day light savings time our days get longer yet? I am reminded of the Native American wisdom that says; “When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Indian said..."Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket."

It’s a matter of semantics. It actually reminds me of the ongoing debate on whether the world was created in 7 twenty-four hour days or whether the reference to days is just to tell the story when in fact the world evolved over a much longer period of time. We receive a monthly publication from a certain church organization that shall remain nameless. It so happens that a recent article contained one person’s opinion on creation. The response in letters to the editor actually had me looking forward to receiving the next issues. It became entertaining, at times humorous. Created a conundrum. Somewhat like my little rant above. I don’t really think it matters. Enough said, before I get into trouble.

The point is that December 21 is a turning point. Somewhat like climbing a mountain. We have reached the top and now are on our way down the other side. To me that provides hope. I suppose if I dislike winter that much I could move to a different climate. But then I would probably be concerned about hurricanes or earthquakes. In some places it might actually be too hot. Perhaps I just need to go with what I got. Go with the quote from A. Cumus; “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer”. What I do know for sure is that in six months the days start getting shorter. Make it a good one.