Reaching Out to Longer Days

Evening falls Tuesday December 21st, the Winter Solstice, signaling the beginning of longer days and shorter nights. Barren deciduous trees stand tall next to their evergreen cousins, reaching out to the dusk sky, holding on to the last light, knowing that the longest night of the year will soon be past. The ice man still cometh, to paraphrase playwright Eugene O'Neill who spent many summers in New London, Connecticut. January and February are our coldest months and will surely bring the snow that has eluded us so far, but the tide has metaphorically turned; each day will last just a smidge longer than the last from now until late June.