Winter Solstice - Haiku

This Winter Solstice

Celebrating longer days &

Shorter nights with friends

Celebrating Winter Solstice with friends (ChatGPT image)

Happy Winter Solstice

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE!

Maryhill Stonehenge memorial - June 18, 2023

Today, December 21 is the 2024 winter solstice and the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. I’ve often thought it would be cool to visit Stonehenge in England during the winter or summer solstice. I'm not sure if that will ever happen but as luck would have it, there happens to be a replica of Stonehenge about 100 miles away from where I now live. According to Wikipedia, the Maryhill Stonehenge replica was commissioned in the early 20th century by the wealthy entrepreneur Sam Hill, and dedicated on July 4, 1918 as a memorial to the people who had died in World War I. I have yet to visit the replica during the winter solstice, but I did visit it on June 18, 2023, just three days before the summer solstice. Apparently, Sam Hill thought the original Stonehenge monument had been used as a sacrificial site and decided to commission the replica as a reminder that humanity is still capable of being sacrificed to the god of war. The real purpose of Stonehenge is still a mystery, but it is commonly thought that it was used as a kind of solar calendar to track the movement of the sun and moon and mark the changing seasons. The presence of human remains also suggests that Stonehenge could have served as an ancient burial ground as well as a ceremonial complex and temple of the dead. However, since no written records exist, theories about Stonehenge’s purpose are still a matter of speculation.

Maryhill Stonehenge memorial - June 18, 2023

360 degree photo Maryhill Stonehenge memorial - June 18, 2023

Winter Solstice - Limerick

Winter Solstice has come again

Vernal Equinox is around the bend

Summer Solstice is next

Then Autumnal Equinox

After that, it starts all over again!

Winter Solstice - Haiku

This Winter Solstice

I celebrate the shortest day

And brighter days ahead

Winter Solstice - Haiku

This Winter Solstice •

Shortest day and longest night • 

Of the darkest year

This winter solstice will also mark the great conjunction when Jupiter and Saturn will be conspicuous in the western sky just after sunset and will be only 0.1 degree apart at the exact moment of the conjunction. Astronomers use the word conjunction to describe meetings of planets and other objects on our sky’s dome. They use the term great conjunction to describe meetings of Jupiter and Saturn, which are the two biggest worlds in our solar system. Though the two planets will appear spectacularly close together on the sky’s dome now, Jupiter and Saturn are actually 456 million miles (733.9 million km) apart. Saturn is nearly twice as far away as Jupiter.

Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions happen every 20 years; the last one was in the year 2000. But these conjunctions aren’t all equal. The 2020 great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest since 1623 and the closest observable since 1226! 2020’s extra-close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15, 2080.
Source: EarthSky.org

Winter Solstice - Haiku

In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter solstice 2019 was at 8:19 PM on Saturday, December 21. I love Winter Solstice because it means days are getting longer and hopefully sunny weather is only a few months away. One of my favorite birds is the American Robin because they stay here in the PNW throughout the winter and don’t seem to be affected by the long, dark winter days. Following is a haiku to celebrate Winter Solstice and the American Robin

The Winter Solstice 

Like the song of a robin 

Tonic for the blues

Days getting longer

After the Winter Solstice

Brightens my spirit

First day of winter 

Brought sunshine and long shadows 

Summer is coming

Solstice To-Do-List - Haiku

Solstice to-do-list ~

Dance naked in the moonlight ~

Pagan rituals

Here Comes the Solstice - Haiku

Here comes the solstice

Seems like years since its been clear

Sunny days are near