December 21St - Winter Solstice: It's The Shortest Day Of The Year

[Nice_Guy]

Rejoice, ye pasty, lethargic, vitamin D-starved New Jerseyans: Today is the shortest day of the year.

The winter solstice has arrived, and that means that starting tomorrow, those brief moments of sunshine that descend on the Garden State will last a little bit longer than they did today. We just have to get through today, and that should be easy, because the daytime will only last nine hours, 15 minutes and 13 seconds.

 

Sunrise is at 7:17 a.m., with sunset at a stupefying 4:32 p.m.

 

The winter solstice is marked every year by pagan celebrations, most famously at Stonehenge, in England.

As pagan author T. Thorn Coyle wrote in an essay on the Huffington Post: "In the Northern hemisphere, friends gather to celebrate the longest night. We may light candles, or dance around bonfires. We may share festive meals, or sing, or pray. Some of us tell stories and keep vigil as a way of making certain that the sun will rise again. Something in us needs to know that at the end of the longest night, there will be light."

Today also marks the "official" start of winter, even if it represents a glimmer of hope for those who cherish the sun.

 

For many people, the lack of sunlight can bring on major depression, called seasonal affective disorder. It can be treated by artificial sunlight, but that doesn't always work, according to the National Institutes of Health. For some people, anti-depressants help.

 

Seasonal affective disorder — sometimes called, appropriately, SAD — can cause anxiety, fatigue, irritability, and other symptoms more commonly associated with the winter blues.

But it seems relief is around the corner: Tomorrow, the day will last for nine hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds.

 

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2014/12/winter_solstice_shortest_day.html

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