Family Journal: Winter Solstice Day

I always photograph the sunrise and sunset on December 21, the shortest day (Winter Solstice) of the year in the northern hemisphere. Most people are unaware of the significance of this day. This was a big day for humans historically, marking the return of the sun and hope for warmer weather. The sunset was at 4:56 PM in Tashkent. The next day, sunset was 4:57 PM. Tashkent is located at 41.3 degrees north latitude and you can really feel the loss of daylight. Most days, I arrive at and leave school in darkness. January and February are still a bit bleak for my taste, but when you can’t do anything about the weather, you need to embrace the cold and dark of winter. As you can see above, the morning sunrise at my house, it was overcast. We spent most of the day in the Tashkent City Mall, Christmas shopping. I snuck out and took a photograph of the sunset on the rooftop.

Tashkent City Mall Christmas Tree

I don’t like shopping, but I do like spending time with my family. Oliver, Ocean, Nadia, and I had a lot of fun! We also made travel arrangements for Georgia in January. I am writing this on Christmas Eve morning. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday closing the school office. We are finishing recruitment, preparing for an alumni gathering, and monitoring winter construction works. In the afternoon, I took Obi for a run/walk along the Ankhor Canal. The sun finally came out in the afternoon.

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