Winter solstice today (here in the Northern hemisphere, anyway) .. at 3:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time (if my calculations are correct), heralding the first day of winter. Interesting how they're able to pinpoint the exact moment .. to within one second.
The seasons are caused by the earth tilting on its axis (23.5 degrees). Today, the sun reaches its furthest-most point of travel in the southern direction, and begins heading back north (or so it appears).
Today is also the shortest day with the longest night. Beginning today, the days get longer .. until the summer solstice, on (or about) June 21st.
••• today's entry continues here below •••
If you happen to live south of the equator (such as in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa), everything is reversed. Today is the summer solstice, the first day of summer, and the longest day of the year.
Lotsa people talking about the (5,000-year) Mayan calendar ending 4 years from today in 2012, and what that might mean.
For more along these lines, here's a Google search for the query » winter solstice, and another for » mayan calendar 2012.
