Winter

Photo credit to bfreethree, eHow Member http://i.ehow.com/images/GlobalPhoto/Articles/2082150/j0407129-main_Full.jpg

As winter comes to the Northern Hemisphere, the days grow shorter until the winter solstice at the exact moment when the Sun appears to be the furthest south, the day that has the least hours of sunlight. We know that it is really the fact that the Earth is tilted on its axis as it orbits the Sun that makes it appear that the Sun is moving south in the sky. This moment occurs sometime between December 19th and December 23rd; however, we usually consider December 21st to be the "shortest" day and the beginning of Winter.

So here in Utah the temperatures are in the 20s and 30s F and we have a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Winter, right? I would like to share a poem about winter coming to Florida. This poem is also from 1934 and by Lila Neville.

SIGNAL FIRES


In yester-years, so I have heard,
When Indians roamed at will,
They used to light their signal fires
On top of some high hill
To warn their friends from plain to plain,
In tepees far away,
That they must flee or merge to fight
A stronger tribe than they.

Dame Nature, too, lights signal fires!
The maple blazing red
First warns our Northern neighbors of
The time not far ahead,
When "Big Chief Winter," white and fierce,
With warriors "Cold" and "Snow,"
Will charge; and they can but be safe
Down here, where summers grow.

Poinsettias glowing brilliant red
And oranges turning gold,
Green grass and lots of healthful sun
Making the world unfold,
The change in music of the birds
That echoes long, and clear,
Are signal fires in Florida
That winter is drawing near.

--mak