February 2, 2010 ~ 9 hours 50 minutes of daylight
Today marks the half way point between winter solstice and spring equinox. Wiarton Willie is our regional groundhog and his annual prediction about the end of winter is highly anticipated. Today dawned cloudy and grey and the chances of Willie seeing his shadow were most unlikely.
Shadow seen=six more weeks of winter
Truth be told, spring does not arrive here until the first or second week of April which is a good eight weeks away. Most of us would be happy with only six more weeks of winter. Wiarton is about a three hour drive north of our city and it was overcast there as well. Imagine my surprise when I heard that Willie had seen his shadow! I left for work shortly after the 8:00 AM announcement and sure enough, the sun was visible behind high clouds and cast enough light to make a faint shadow.
No one knows if cold winter weather and snow will persist past the third week of March, but it is certain that the days will continue to lengthen. I took the picture below on January 14th on the way to work and the sun was much lower in the sky. Today, at the same location, the spectacular sunrise was missing, but the sun was noticeably higher. The days have lengthened about 40 minutes in the past two and a half weeks.
Life goes by fast enough so I resist wishing winter away. We are planning a visit to Algonquin Park in a couple of weeks and nice winter weather would be most welcome. And I also look forward to Red Maple blossoms and Snowdrops by this day in April regardless of Willie’s prediction.
January 14, 2010 ~ 9 hours 8 minutes of daylight
Nice sunrise. I have been noticing that it's no longer pitch black at 5:00PM. Nice.
Although I haven't heard, I'd be sure whatever AZ groundhog saw his shadow on this sunny day.
I've also noticed that the days are getting longer. More winter, or early spring, I'm learning to love the seasons as they are. You find ways to enjoy each season with its weather, its timing, and all the associated activities and relationships. It's wonderful! I'm so glad that God created so many things for us to enjoy, be it winter, summer, fall or spring!
I'm sort of with you on that Ruth. Time really does pass by so quickly, I know it will only seem like a matter of days before the days are even longer and the leaves are reappearing on the trees. I like the anticipation actually. ;c)
Beautiful photograph of the sunrise. I love the miniscule increases in daylight hours.
I sure love the extra light but agree that life does go buy too fast to wish any of it to whiz by even faster!
Hi Ruth
I’m new to blogging. Searching out other bloggers in the Aurora area and came across your blog. Couldn’t help but notice the date on your latest post looked to be early in 2010. Hope all is well.