Today in Guelph the sunset is 4:41 pm. That’s one minute LATER than it was yesterday.

By Dec 15th it will be 4:45 pm and by January 15th it will be 5:15 pm.

We’re officially past the earliest sunset of the year, if not the shortest day. How’s that?

Here’s the Farmer’s Almanac explanation:

“Is today the earliest sunset of the year?

After all, the shortest day of the year, in terms of daylight, is December 21, the winter solstice. But the days will actually begin to feel a bit longer two weeks before the solstice. That’s because the earliest sunset of the year happens before the solstice, and in 2022, it occurs on Wednesday, December 7.”

Some time ago I realized that the real effect on my mood in the fall was from lack of light. Especially as someone with vision issues, the lack of light is pretty limiting.

Once I figured out that I was able to be active outdoors–walking the dog, fat biking, snow shoeing etc–especially in the snowy winter sunshine of January–winter itself wasn’t the problem. It’s the much shorter days that feel worse.

Also, since I’m am early riser it’s pretty much always dark when I wake up, it’s the lack of light at the end of the day that feels worse.

So I am here to celebrate that from an ‘end of the day light’ perspective–the thing I care most about-EVERYTHING IS BETTER FROM HERE ON IN.

Photo by Brian Jones on Unsplash