Today was the shortest day of the year and marks the official beginning of winter. I always look forward to the winter solstice as I am usually ready for longer days by the time it arrives.

Of course, the solstice is the official start of winter but depending on where you live it usually feels like winter much sooner.

I was ahead of myself while in Germany earlier this month when I wrote a post titled A Winter Walk to Work. It sure felt like winter with the sun barely up as I left for work, and having already set by the time I headed back to the hotel.

Today on the shortest day of the year we have 9 hours and 33 minutes from sunrise to sunset here. Where I was in Germany they have just a few minutes less than 8 hours.

To add to the dreariness of a short day the weather was overcast today and there was fog on the Altamont both on the way to work and on the way home. I left work early to try and miss the worst of the holiday weekend Friday traffic and my lights automatically came on at times during the drive home.

Today I have also been remembering the winter solstice from three years ago. I was in Glasgow, Scotland and experienced my shortest day ever. However, it was A Long Shortest Day as I had a packed schedule. That day had less than seven hours of daylight and was also cold and rainy

Of course, there are many people who live far enough north that their shortest days have no daylight at all.

I am also thinking of colleagues that live in Singapore as they will only have 12 hours and 3 minutes of daylight today. I am sure that they will not notice the difference as this is only 9 minutes less than what they have on the day of the summer solstice.

This time of year is not the best for getting over jet lag. I am still a bit exhausted from my trip to Germany. Thankfully there will be some breaks in the clouds tomorrow and I can hopefully soak up some sun on a nice long walk or while doing some yard work.

Steven