Perihelion

Lengthening shadows

A new year has begun, but the pace on the farm hasn’t picked up yet. Days are starting to get longer, and like every year I am amazed how long it really takes until this is noticeable. In the morning, change comes slowly: almost two weeks after the shortest day of the year the sun rose exactly one minute earlier today than on December 22^nd. In the evening, however, we have gained twelve minutes now – yes, we keep track quite diligently, because when days are so short, every minute counts.

Days are still short, but other than that it barely feels like winter. The day after our return from Central America was the coldest in the last three weeks, and precipitation has been falling as rain or freezing rain, not as snow. The snow has been reduced to a thin layer, with many bare spots on the lawn and in the fields, except where the wind had pushed up snow drifts against hedges and fence rows, and everything is covered with a crust of ice. The highways are dry now and pose no problem, but gravel roads are treacherous, sheets of pure ice. Walking is difficult even on the lawn, and Leo, on four legs, seems to have more trouble than we do on two: often he loses his grip, his legs sliding in four different directions. It doesn’t seem to bother him, and he takes up his position at the front when we go for a walk along the field later in the afternoon.

It is warm today, plus seven, and the daily highs are supposed to stay above freezing for the next week or so. This is unusual, at least the length of this warm period in the middle of winter, but it is quite nice: even if it turns cold now, it cannot last longer than three months. Maybe this is a recompense for the long, cold, snowy winter we had last year.

Today is perihelion, the day when the earth is closest to the sun this year, about 1.5 million miles closer. Not a huge difference at an average distance of 93 million miles, and quite likely not the reason for this balmy weather.