Welcome back to #TravelThursday. One of my all-time favorite lyrics in a song is from R.E.M. in “Stand” when they sang – “If you are confused – check with the sun. Carry a compass to help you along.” It was a quirky song with nerdy lyrics, so that explains why I immediately related to it.
I am not confused. I know exactly which direction I’m standing, or driving, or flying – simply by checking with the sun (or moon) and noticing in which direction the clouds are moving. I don’t need a compass. I don’t need a road sign. A sense of direction is a gift that God blessed me with.
Today (and tomorrow) is the First Day of Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s the First Day of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The Sun reaches its southernmost point above the Earth along the Tropic of Capricorn (23.4394° south latitude) where it’s directly overhead today at 10:27 PM U.S. East Coast time. (So that’s actually December 22ND across much of the world.)
It’s the shortest day of the year and the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and it’s the reverse in the Southern Hemisphere. Here in the north sunrises continue occurring later in the morning well into January. But our earliest sunsets of the year already occurred 1 to 3 weeks ago (depending on your latitude), so the Sun is actually staying up later each evening. Starting tomorrow – the days will start to get longer.
The front of my new home (at 27.5436° north latitude) faces almost (but not quite) due NE out front, and of course almost (but not quite) due SW out back. During much of the year the sun’s rays enter my home office (where this blog is written) during the morning hours. But in December the sun can’t quite reach into this room. It’ll be back though in January. Meanwhile my master bedroom, lanai, and living room get full direct sunlight in the afternoon during this time of the year, but those sun rays will soon start becoming more diagonal, and then they will completely disappear later in the year as the sun retreats northward.
When I was a little kid growing up in Lanham Maryland in the mid-to-late-1970s I always noticed how the sun hit my home, my neighbors’ homes, and my grandparent’s home in the morning and in the afternoon / evening. I noticed that the extreme angles occurred during both solstices in June and December. Every March and September there were no angles. It was straight up and down. So – I’ve pretty much been an astronomy (and of course) weather nerd for the past 50 years.
Next #TravelThursday – it’s my personal travel recap of 2023. Let’s keep traveling together.
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