General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTONIGHT IS THE WINTER SOLSTICE!
In the Northern Hemisphere, the southernmost sunrise and sunset usher in the years shortest day and the longest night. In the Southern Hemisphere, its the exact opposite, for the years southernmost sunrise and sunset give the Southern Hemisphere its longest day and shortest night.
http://earthsky.org/tonight/southernmost-sun-brings-december-21-solstice
roody
(10,849 posts)niyad
(113,556 posts)Tipperary
(6,930 posts)liberal N proud
(60,344 posts)elleng
(131,107 posts)Gidney N Cloyd
(19,847 posts)Lochloosa
(16,068 posts)elleng
(131,107 posts)damn I hate Maryland winters!!!
Warpy
(111,339 posts)and snow again on Saturday. We've still got a few patches of last weekend's snow here and there, although it was off the streets by noon. I love NM winters. Still not much snowpack in the mountains, though.
oldandhappy
(6,719 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Is the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere called the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere?
elleng
(131,107 posts)Just wrote her. She's just returned to her home from a weekend wedding, so we'll see when she responds.
Maybe 'December' solstice???
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)Less anglo-centric.
elleng
(131,107 posts)and that's what it's referred to here: http://earthsky.org/tonight/southernmost-sun-brings-december-21-solstice
Igel
(35,356 posts)"Winter solstice" is as anglo-centric as it is Russo-Centric.
And if you like the "tradition" of exonyms, so that all pale European-stock folk are "anglo" so Russians and Brits are functionally interchangeable, note that dongzhi in Mandarin means "winter solstice", with the word "winter" prominently featured in the compound.
Northern hemisphere cultures developed the sciences ahead of southern hemisphere cultures and coined phrases in their languages for use with their compatriots without due consideration of how everybody else would eventually consider them. (Silly them, valuing themselves over others.)
Like all those supremacist peoples around the world whose endonym, their word in their language for use with their fellow community members devolves to the word for "people" or "human." We are people, others are not. (Sort of like Greeks calling non-Greeks barbarians because they lacked real language and went around saying bar-bar. Like many a frat boy.)
niyad
(113,556 posts)no anglo-centrism involved.
elleng
(131,107 posts)'We refer to the summer and winter solstice as well. Just at opposite times of the year than you guys do in the northern hemisphere. Because that's what it is here. In December we have our most hours of sunlight in a a day - and in June our least.'
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)"Hey ... Ellen's Aussie Friend, let's meet up next winter solstice."
"Cool. Are we beaching it or skiing? "
elleng
(131,107 posts)Depends on your hemisphere!!!
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Of course, he's used to seeing the Southern Cross. I looked where he was pointing and replied, "No, Warwick. That's the North Cessna."
elleng
(131,107 posts)When my friend visited here, I pointed out the Capitol!!!
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)That's short for 3rd Royal Australian Regiment. So we drove to D.C. from L.A.
elleng
(131,107 posts)My friend flew in from Australia to meet up with friends in the U.S., and I took the bus downtown from my home in DC.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)I lived in McLean for 16 years and worked across from the Hirshhorn Museum for part of that time.
We did the cross-country trip from CA on two of Warwick's visits, taking a couple of months or so each time to visit friends around the country as we traveled. It was a blast, but the seats in my little Ford Escort seemed to get harder with every mile.
elleng
(131,107 posts)I worked near the Hirshhorn, @ 12th and Constitution for almost 20 years.
Such trips WOULD be a blast! I drove from Denver to Chicago once, and then Chicago to DC, nothing to compare with your TRUE cross-country trips.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)elleng
(131,107 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)ConsiderIng another 'up and down' discussion, Bucky Fuller used the terms 'in' and 'out' rather than our usual 'up' and 'down'.
Takket
(21,625 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)niyad
(113,556 posts)Winter Solstice Shortest Day of the Year
Solstices are opposite on either side of the equator, so the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere and vice versa.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)solstice blessings to all
elleng
(131,107 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)elleng
(131,107 posts)I do my own pics, NOT time-lapse, and haven't used bing yet.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Hekate
(90,793 posts)And The Sun shall rise.
yellowcanine
(35,701 posts)to My Pagan Friends!
niyad
(113,556 posts)Butterbean
(1,014 posts)UTUSN
(70,740 posts)niyad
(113,556 posts)Kingofalldems
(38,476 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)Botany
(70,582 posts)Even if you don't X-country ski this is a little piece of heaven .... go in the middle of the
week and rent a cabin and you will have the place to yourself.
Haven't been there, and doubt there's snow now, as our MD weather has been unseasonably warm. Haven't checked WESTERN md, tho. Here in southern MD, now, the temp is 55.
Botany
(70,582 posts)The cabins have been fixed up and are up to date however no TV and cell phones
don't work real well there but lots of history w/in an hour or two of the park.
(Casselman River Bridge, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, Antietam, and lots
more) New Germany Park has miles of trails, the occasional black bear, and
some nice dinning in nearby Grantsville, MD. But if you can swing it sometime
in the winter during the week you can have the place to yourself and if it is a
clear night you can see millions of stars.
Some of the cabins are pet friendly too. And if you hit it at the right time the
snow sitting in the hemlocks is like magic.
I have been going the last few years in Febuary and March w/myself, son, and
black lab and I have had a great time.
New Germany S. P. has a web site so you can see if the trails have snow or you
can check Weather Underground's link for Frostburg, MD.
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Frostburg%2C+MD
elleng
(131,107 posts)I lived in Hagerstown for a few years, Antietam nearby. WANTED to get to Falling Water, but never did.
Botany
(70,582 posts)The House is closed during January & February and opened on the weekends in March.
If conditions are right the grounds are open in the winter .... call first.
The old National Rd US 40 takes you close to Falling Water and a little past it is a
place called the Stone House Inn (1822) and their lunches can feed two people easy.
I haven't been to New Germany in the spring or early summer but I would bet
the wildflowers, Mt Laurel, and Rhododendron blooms would be awesome ... in
the spring they have a conference on native plants too.
hunter
(38,327 posts):wohoo:
ismnotwasm
(42,011 posts)Unfortunately, I can't go--but it's gorgeous, with food, dancing, imagery
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)To be precise, since some people's tomorrow might be your today.
longship
(40,416 posts)Everybody, enjoy your cold, brisk winter. Rest assured that after today the Sun is coming back towards the North, creeping in its slow pace day by day.
Happy Winter solstice to all DUers!
Martini time!
Southern Hemisphere DUers, reverse this.
Iggo
(47,565 posts)elleng
(131,107 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)the days are gonna start getting longer now.
JackInGreen
(2,975 posts)And Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to the others!
geomon666
(7,512 posts)Man I need to get out of here.
elleng
(131,107 posts)GLAD to be here, but it's gonna start raining and keep raining for about 1 week.
Cassiopeia
(2,603 posts)But I got to see this from the backyard:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027466413
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)the late sunsets in June more than make for it. I don't know how the people who live near the equater can stand the early sunsets (6pm) year-round. Well, I suppose that's all they know. Conversely, I remember being north of Fairbanks in June, and there was just too much daylight.
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)This week, keep looking to our place in the Universe...
Happy Solstice, my friends!
burrowowl
(17,647 posts)getting longer!
elleng
(131,107 posts)1 minute later than it did YESTERDAY!!!
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)When my Aussie buddy visited, he pointed at the sky and asked if that was the North Star. Of course, he's used to seeing the Southern Cross.
I looked where he was pointing and took a few beats before replying. "No, Warwick," I told him. "Here we call that the North Cessna."
elleng
(131,107 posts)Will try to remember for MY Aussie friend!