Pity the poor folks who live in Lander, Buffalo, Pinedale, Dubois, Tensleep, and Jackson.
While everyone has been enduring the shortest day of the year this weekend, people who live in those towns have been experiencing an ADDITIONAL ten minutes of darkness because of the high mountains close to them.
Today (Sunday, Dec. 22) is one of my favorite days of the year because with the passage of the winter solstice on Saturday, Dec. 21, Wyoming’s nights will now become shorter each day and the days shall become longer, light-wise, that is.
My Dad’s Favorite Time
If my late father had a favorite winter day, it would have occurred on Dec. 22 each year. That is the day when the nights started getting shorter and days started getting longer.
He always obsessed about the weather and we all knew he was checking on road reports when any members of his big family were on the road.
As he got older and entered the long dark winter of his own lifetime, I think those ever-longer nights and ever-briefer days would remind him of his own life slipping away.
He always looked forward to the second day of winter because the days would be gradually getting longer. He would have a spring in his step, as he got up as early as possible to mark the fact that we had all made it through one more dark season. “The future is going to be much brighter, no doubt about it!” he might be saying, if he were still alive.
The continuing theme a few years ago of that super-popular TV show Game of Thrones was “Winter is Coming.” I think that theme does not just refer to the seasons but to the overpowering darkness that occurs in the wintertime. My dad died before he had a chance to see that show but he knew what that phrase meant.
I am now in my 78th year. It is easy to identify with his feelings. With that introduction, let me say that Dec. 22 is a great day. Yes, the nights are shorter. And the days are longer.
First Day Of Winter
Alas, here in Wyoming, this weekend marks the first official day of winter, too. We still might have four and half more months of wintry weather.
Some years ago, I created markers on my patio deck showing the location of the setting sun during the spring, summer, fall, and winter solstices and equinoxes. We all know that it feels like the sun has been moving back and forth during the year, but when you see those markers, it is almost unbelievable.
If I stand looking straight ahead to the marker for the Spring and Fall equinoxes the summer sun marker is far to my right. The distance is almost unimaginable when you see how far the winter sun marker is to the left from where the summer sun sets.
Actually, the sun does not move. The earth tilts on its axis but it just seems like the sun has moved a long, long way.
Of course, this time of year, the sun going down between 4:30 and 5 p.m. has been a shock to the system. In my hometown of Lander and those other Wyoming mountain towns, we lose about 10 to 20 extra minutes of daylight because the afternoon sun sets behind the massive Wind River Mountains to our southwest.
And if those days do seem shorter, it is because they are massively shorter. The longest summer day is five hours and 50 minutes longer than the shortest winter day. About a fourth of the 24-hour day makes up this difference.
This is one of the reasons so many people feel depressed this time of year. Too much darkness. Two other reasons are cold and ice. Friends all over Wyoming have been slipping on the ice and breaking bones
I already fell once and it involved a trip to the emergency room. The ER doc thought I had fractured my elbow but X-rays thankfully showed just some chips.
Sometimes The Wind Is A Blessing
Many places in the state get lots of wind, which warms up their towns and melts the ice. Places like Lander, Riverton, Sheridan, Newcastle, Worland, Buffalo, Thermopolis, and Evanston are not quite as prone to get wind, thus ice piles up. Nothing is quite as depressing as dealing with a broken arm or separated shoulder or fractured hip from a fall.
I am writing this after witnessing quite an outpouring of good cheer in my town.
More than 300 teeming baskets of food, books, toys, and games were are annually distributed to needy families here in the Lander area by a smiling group of Elks members who tackle the job cheerfully each Christmas season.
For many of them it was a three-generation event with grandpa, his son, and a grandchild tagging along making sure the deliveries were made.
Clubs all over Wyoming have done similar good works to benefit the needy during this time of year. What a great way to celebrate the “reason for the season.”
And Merry Christmas to all of you who have been faithful readers of this column. I wish you good times and safe travels in you are on the move this season.
