The winter solstice occurred earlier this morning at 4:21 AM, and we have passed through the longest night of the year. The winter solstice is not only a natural turning point, but a psychological turning point as well, as we realize it can get no darker than today. I’ve come to see the cultural custom of decorating one’s house with lights beginning around the first of October as a response to the longer nights, an attempt to ward off the deepening darkness. Come the new year, the artificial lights will fade, as nature begins to provide us with more light. Today, there is a 2" coating of snow on the ground, which is the picture-perfect amount - just enough to blanket the landscape, while being just too little to bother with. A cup of coffee, a bran muffin, and a rugelach, with just a few bits of sun and blue sky, and the world seems just a little better.

Every year at the winter solstice I post this video. This Northern Exposure clip comes from episode 4.8 “Northern Lights,” which explores the theme of light during the winter solstice.

More Light

>Goethe’s final words: “More light.” Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, that’s been our unifying cry: “More light.”  Sunlight. Torchlight. Candelight. Neon. Incandescent. Lights that banish the darkness from our caves, to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators. Big floods for the night games at Soldier’s Field. Little tiny flashlights for those books we read under the covers when we’re supposed to be asleep. Light is more than watts and footcandles. Light is metaphor. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.” “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” “Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom; lead thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home- Lead Thou me on!” “Arise, shine, for thy light has come.” Light is knowledge. Light is life. Light is light.

-Chris in the Morning