Yesterday was a gray day here in Maine, illustrated well by Sheepscot friend Jan, who took this photo of a small stream that feeds into the Marsh River. The Marsh is the next river down from the Dyer, the river I live on - both feed into the mighty Sheepscot River, which flows to the ocean. The stream Jan pictures is where he has seen some of the wild life I mentioned the other day, including the cougar.
You might also recall my previous mention of sunny California friend Gordon, the guy who knows where things are in the heavens. Ever the optimist, he tried again yesterday to show me via email where the International Space Station is. The snow clouds were already covering the sky, so I had an excuse to fail, as I usually do anyway, in finding heavenly objects.
Gordon is also one of those rare people who understands the solstice. Here is his explanation of yesterday's event:
"While it is true that it’s the day when we start to gain daylight (I like that positive definition rather than “it’s the darkest day of the year’), most people are confused when I start talking about sunrise and sunset. Most people think that tomorrow the sun will start rising earlier and setting later than it did today. But that’s only partially true. Here in Santa Barbara, for example, the sun started setting later than the day before on December 8. So on the 9th the afternoons started getting longer. But the sun won’t start rising earlier until January 13th. Very difficult, for some reason, for people to understand it. But there it is.
By the way, your afternoons started getting longer four days ago, and the sun starts rising earlier on Jan. 20."
