
At the Solstice, in Praise of Darkness - prismatic
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/opinion/sunday/solstice-praise-for-darkness.html
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Pharylon
The first thing I did when I bought my house out in the country was to have
the power company remove the security lights. Now it feels quiet and dark at
night instead of feeling like a parking lot.

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jessaustin
I feel like someone should send you a thank-you note or something. Fortunately
I can't see my neighbors' floodlights from my house, but they certainly
impinge on the darkness whenever I go for a walk. Rural security lights are a
plague.

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jessaustin
I took a lovely stroll across the farm last night. Completely cloudy so no
stars, just a very faint glow. It was even nicer because my idiot dog is
finally listening to me when I tell her not to menace the cattle. (I think one
of the cows may have administered a little well-deserved spanking recently.)

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jamesjyu
I was born on the winter solstice, and there's something about that stillness
in the darkness that I love—people are on holiday, and you have the space to
linger over your thoughts.

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erric
Beautiful! The author has a great voice. I’ve always loved the dark, ever
since I was young. I’m greatly anticipating the spring, but in the mean time I
relish in the dark; spending time with family, friends and loved ones.

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waynecochran
As I allergy sufferer I hate the approaching of Spring since it means about
two months of hiding indoors waiting for the first hot days of summer to kill
the grass and end all the pernicious pollination. Thus I have learned to
embrace the long winters.

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exDM69
Greetings from 60 degrees northern latitude. When I woke up at 9 a.m. today,
it was still dark. The sunrise is at 9.24 am and sunset is 3.11 pm. At midday
when the sun is at its highest, it's barely above the treeline, 6.5 degrees
above the horizon.

On top of that, the sky is completely overcast with thick clouds this time of
year and they either absorb all light or emit darkness.

But I'm not complaining, we've had _hours_ of sunlight in December. _Hours!_ A
few years ago there was only 20 minutes in the whole month, that was a bit
dark.

But come summer solstice, it's payback time. Living with the midnight sun is
magical.

A shout out to all the northern dwellers of HN!

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jeffwass
>But I'm not complaining, we've had hours of sunlight in December. Hours! A
few years ago there was only 20 minutes in the whole month, that was a bit
dark.

Why does the # of hours of darkness vary year to year?

Is it something like an atmospheric effect of solar refraction through the
atmosphere during dusk with a dependence on weather-patterns?

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exDM69
It's the relentless overcast cloud cover. By sunlight, I mean actual sun
visible. I should have said _sunshine_.

There's very little difference in the number of day/night hours, only the
little variations where our calendars don't match the motions of the heavens.

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wyclif
I grew up at about 40 degrees northern latitude. I've been living in the
Philippines temporarily for the past two years, and the only time I get
homesick is at Christmas and the winter solstice. I'm now about 10 degrees
above the equator, and it's _just not the same_ at all. Essentially the sun
rises and sets here the same time every day as far as anyone notices (even
though there is a slight variation).

There something about an obvious solstice that makes you physically,
psychologically, and spiritually more aware that time moves inevitably on.

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MrDresden
I love the height of winter, and the cozy feeling it's companying darkness
brings. Where I live we only get 4 hours of sunlight in December, cut even
shorter most of the time due to clouds.

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nategri
I adore seeing the stars, but I do not enjoy the night. Multi-week observatory
shifts in grad school burned away a lot of my earlier warm feelings for all
things nocturnal.

