~a column by Colleen O’Brien
It is the first day after Winter Solstice, and this second winter morning of 2025 came in with the sun splattering the edges of fat snow clouds with red and orange. Very bold of the sun on a day that’s 26 degrees-feels-like-15 and has already turned gray and windy.
That sun came up a couple of seconds earlier today than yesterday. A negligible time gain, but it’s a start. Longer days, here we come. By New Year’s we’ll have gained a minute.
If you happened to see your shadow at noon on Sunday, remember it as the longest shadow you’ll have all year. By Summer Solstice’s noontime, you’ll have no shadow at all.
~~~
A Christmas story for you:
My great granddaughter Ellie B, 9-year-old fourth grader, has a friend whom we call “Future Supreme Court Justice.” Below is an example of why we named her:
“A boy in my class asked Santa for a dirt bike, and so did I. He’s getting one. I’m not. Santa is a misogynist.”
~~~
Get up early every day now, for that the first cuppa coffee might involve a salute to a bright red sun before he becomes suffocated by winter snow clouds.
No matter how subtle, that old sun is relentless in his duties. He will be cheering us up earlier each day. It is understandable why our ancestors bowed to him.
Happy Christmas, All.
P.S. I just read that Pope Leo XIV chose his name after Pope Leo XIII, who was known for his social justice work and for supporting workers during the Industrial Union.
This new pope recently appointed a Queens, New York pastor, Dominican Republic immigrant to the U.S. (2018) Rev. Manuel de Jesus Rodriguez, who is a prominent advocate for migrants, as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach.
