Head in the Clouds Amherst: Shortest Day and Longest Night

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Shortest Day and Longest Night

Sun through trees and clouds, Winter Solstice 2024
Photo by Sharon Vardatira, North Amherst MA

𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓; 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉. 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒎𝒂𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕; 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆. ~ 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘆, 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴

Now winter solstice is upon us. Today will be both the shortest day and longest night of 2024. In this season of introspection and renewal, may you find strength in stillness, wisdom among the trees and rivers, and the inspiration to transform like the ever-changing skies above.

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On Puffer's Pond

Saturday, February 4, 2023, 3:35 pm: The past two days have seen record-breaking cold in the area, with the temperature dipping to -14F overnight, Friday into Saturday. To make matters worse, the wind was unyielding, whipping through the trees and driving wind chill readings down to -40F. In a season that had been unusually mild up until that point, it was something of a shock. Local residents were suddenly forced to think about warming up their cars, preventing pipes from freezing, and dressing in multiple layers to walk their dogs. By Saturday, while many were happy to hunker down and wait for temperatures to stop breaking low records, this was the moment that ice fishers and skaters had been waiting for all winter. With temps hovering around 12F (albeit above zero) by Saturday afternoon, Puffer's Pond was the place to be for about 30 people, many of whom were spread out over the ice, either ice fishing or playing hockey. While this is a fairly typical sight at Puffer's in the coldest winter months, our current lack of snow made it unique. No one had to contend with snowpack - the skaters didn't even have to clear a "field" for their game. And with all the hiking paths snow and ice-free, photographers had no trouble capturing water flowing through, under, and around layers of ice on the water. And, still, at 12F, without hand and foot warmers, I did not linger long. The temps will be rising quickly in the coming week, climbing well above freezing, even to 50F in the days to come. So, I'm guessing the skaters and ice fishers also won't be here much longer.

(Read past entries here.)

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Saturday, December 21, 2024

Shortest Day and Longest Night

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