days growing longer | Life on a Colorado Farm

We are still cold here. I know it is to be expected since it IS December after all.

The Gunnison River is starting ice up.

Our days are awaiting the return of the sun…if we have sun now it is thin sunlight, doing nothing to warm up the air. At some point in January we will have what old-timers called–THE JANUARY THAW–a false feeling of spring.

Nothing to get excited about, unless you are like me —once that happens I get HOPE!

Ever since the 17th of December the sun has been stuck in it’s day length of 9 hours and 27 minutes, with the last day of this reading to be on Christmas Day..then we start gradually increasing. GRADUALLY is the term until sometime in January.

BUT…..changes are taking place —the sun is starting to get UP just a tiny bit earlier staring on the 18th of December…just one minute at a time, so on the 19th the sun gets up at 7:26 then on the 21st the sun rises at 7:27, which goes starts to increase every two days and going to sleep just a tiny bit later.

Slowly, slowly, every so slowly the earth starts to make it’s mighty shift – thrusting itself back toward spring. By December 31, 2012 we will see a day length of 9 hours and 30 minutes, with the sun rising at 7:30 in the morning and setting at 5:00 in the evening, extending our day to 9 hours and 30 minutes!

January and February are bitter cold months, but the days are longer, which helps.

Which, for me, really helps!

Almost Christmas Eve!