Sunrise, Sunset

It's a sunny winter afternoon. When I walked my dog this morning, it was dark. It's the dark time of year in Washington. That we have such dark winters--a combination of short days and lots of cloud cover--is the down side of our longitude (or do I mean latitude? I mean our proximity to the arctic circle). Our long summer days are the up side.

Winter soltice this year, December 21, 2008, the sun will rise at 8:00 a.m. and set at 4:14 p.m. here in Lynden (sunrise/sunset times). That's a short day. But next summer solstice, June 20, 2007, the sun will rise at 5:05 a.m. and set at 9:17 p.m. That'll be great.

It hasn't happened yet this winter, but sooner or later it always does: that I'll think to myself during the evening, I'm so tired. It must be 11:00 or even later. Then I'll look at the clock, and it will be about 7:00.

Maybe that won't happen until after the holidays. Meanwhile, the day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving. This afternoon, my dad and I are going shopping for groceries for the feast.