I waited for the sun to go down to write and post this, though I have been thinking about it for a few days. December 21 is the equinox, the shortest day of the year, and the beginning of Winter.

Not that it feels any different than yesterday. There is a dusting of snow on the ground, though not as much as in this picture. And, while the high temperature was a seasonal minus seven today, Christmas day the forecast is calling for plus five.

Another green Christmas. I am sure some will say it is climate change. Mind you, I remember a fair number of green Christmases in my youth when we weren’t worried about such things.

One thing I have noticed as I grow older though is that I need sunlight more than I used to. Which makes me excited for the onset of Winter, even as it brings cold and snow. Starting tomorrow there will be a little more daylight every day, until almost the end of June.

I think I need that. I have been a little grouchy at times this Fall, and I suspect it may be weather/light related. Everyone around me sure hopes so.

I could also be grouchy because I have spent too much time contemplating everything that is wrong with the world and am frustrated that there is little to nothing I can do to fix it. Mind you, every little bit helps.

As Bruce Cockburn says (and U2 borrowed his words in a song of theirs also), “you got to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight.”

So on this darkest day of 2023, when world news has been depressing, I am focusing on the daylight and resolving to keep kicking at the darkness.

How about you?