Welcome to the first day of Winter 2016! But it’s starting off warm this week (today’s temperatures at top, and predicted high and low temperatures for each day of the week given in Fahrenheit below); so there’s no chance of a white Christmas here. Global warming is already showing its insidious effects, and it’s gonna get worse.
On this day in 1968, Apollo 8 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, leading to men walking on the moon for the first time in the following summer. I watched the moonwalk live, and I’ll never forget it: we won’t see that again in our lifetime! On this day in 1866, Maud Gonne was born (Yeats lovers will know who she is), and in 1937 Jane Fonda was born. On December 21, 1940, F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack at only 44; he is one of my favorite writers and prose stylists—though he couldn’t spell worth a damn—and if you can get hold of his collected letters to his daughter Scottie, do read it (I see that it’s rare and a bit pricey on Amazon). You can see one letter here. Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is looking extremely cute, and she knows it!:
Hili: Life is an extreme sport!
A: Why?
Hili: You never know whether you are going to look good in the photo.
Hili: Życie to sport ekstremalny!
Ja: Dlaczego?
Hili: Nigdy nie wiadomo, czy zdjęcie dobrze wyjdzie.
And in Wroclawek, Leon’s had his fill of walking, but he needs his fill of noms:
Leon: Let’s go home now. I will check whether my bowl is getting filled.
In NY, our temp is supposed to reach nearly 70 F on Thursday. Santa will have to abandon the sleigh and take the Subaru.
I thought the solstice was tomorrow (22nd)
Yep – 04:48 UT or 10:48 Central.
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11:48 Eastern. Time to open a bottle and toast the tilt. Druids be among us, and pagans of all sorts. Atheists too.
So it /will/ still be 21 December in the US. That’s 10:48 /pm/ (22:48) Central (in Chicago).
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Yes that’s correct. The day of the month varies. Going back to 2011, it was on Dec 22 at my house.
I was misinformed.
Regardless, I hope everyone has a very happy solstice!
No, I was right after all! It’s tonight, but before midnight.
Ha! I stand corrected! I will enjoy the first 12 minutes of winter snugly in my Eastern Time zone bed.
There is a big billboard near here that says “Jesus is the reason for the season”. I guess this is all his fault.
Today (or thereabouts, maybe yesterday; these things aren’t that precise and open to interpretation), the Sun dies and lays low in its southernly grave for a few days before beginning its glorious resurrection. ‘Tis a very momentous time, indeed!
…meanwhile, while the real world is undergoing a death and transfiguration, the Christians are busy celebrating birthdays. And, in the springtime, when the real world is being born anew, the Christians will be mourning for death and dreaming of resurrection. Yes, they really are that perverted and umop-apisdn.
b&
And here in Chandler it’s 36 degrees! Looks like Jerry stole our share of global warming.
Chandler, Arizona?
Wow! umop-apisdn!
It was 36 in parts of NZ yesterday too, but that was Celsius. (97 F)
Indeed, in Tempe I can still see frost on some of the rooftops and itâs after 8:00.
b&
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Hilichik (for those who don’t know, “-chik” is an affectionate diminutive … I feel correction from her Hiliness already. “Diminutive, indeed.”)
Your world will change. (That is a “will”, not a “may”.) If it doesn’t change fast enough for you to notice, is that more important than a mouse in the grass?
Those temperatures look like Melbourne’s temperatures, only if they were in degrees Celcius.