21 Saturday Jan 2017
I think I should get up and out early more often. The mercury didn’t rise over 3°C today and it was -1°C when I took this photo at 8.30am, as I set off for a full day’s wildlife recorders’ forum. There was a light ground mist hovering over the Roath Park Recreation Grounds and the scene was lit by that beautiful light that comes soon after sunrise, the time of day photographers call the golden hour. Sublime!
01 Sunday Jan 2017
The sun rises over the Serengeti Plains, Tanzania, August 2014
‘Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.’
Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was an American marine biologist and conservationist. This quote is taken from her seminal work Silent Spring, 1962.
21 Monday Dec 2015
Are you getting up early tomorrow to see the sunrise? Crowds will gather at England’s ancient monument Stonehenge, and around the world various cultures will be celebrating because this is the solstice, from the Latin solstitium meaning ‘the sun stands still’.
As our modern calendar (of 365 days and a leap year of 366) does not equate exactly with the solar calendar of 365.2422 days, the precise time of the solstice varies each year. This year, at 4:49am (GMT) on 22 December, the earth will reach the point where the North Pole is tilted furthest from the sun. For us northerners, this means that, in the coming days, we will begin to see an increase in the hours of daylight.
For the ancient Romans, this was the festival of Saturnalia, seven days of partying and gift-giving. For the Scandinavians, it was the Feast of Yuul when the Juul (Yule) log was ceremonially brought in and one end placed in the fire as a tribute to the Norse god Thor, protector of mankind. In China, the celebration is called Dong Zhi (‘winter arrival’), a time for family get-togethers, eating glutinous-rice-ball soup and becoming one year older! Whether or not you are celebrating perhaps, just like the sun, pause, savour the stillness, reflect, then take a deep breath and move boldly into the year ahead.