Winter Solstice

As of today, we’re heading towards spring and summer again. OK, formally, winter has started with today’s solstice. But isn’t winter the first step towards spring? Sunrise at 6:45, sunset at 17:39, hence about eleven hours of daylight, not counting dawn and dusk, which are very short here. I do my meditation as the day breaks, starting when it’s still pitch black dark, and after a short session of 30 minutes, it’s full daylight. And time to feed the dogs, who have started to make a ruckus outside when the dark fades.

And it is wintery indeed. We have been in the firm grip of anti-cyclones¹ in the past weeks, which means it can be pretty windy, and the temperatures are way down. Check out the dauntingly looking wind and weather map of several competing constellations.

And you already know that by “temperatures way down” I mean relative, even though it feels absolute. Here on the coast we’re still above 20 degrees Celsius, but it feels like much colder. Second duvet out of the closet! OK, granted, the duvets are thin. Jeans and winter jacket in the morning. I guess I do get older.

Up on the plateau, it was 17 degrees C the other day, when I went for my dentist’s appointment in Phoenix. Luckily, when the sun is out, it gets warm quickly.

On the Covid-19 front, we’re still doing well, after one week of more or less full opening. People are very good with wearing masks, we don’t have these really unnecessary discussions here. Of course, we apply reason: on Saturday, we had the General Meeting of the Charity Centre, with five people sitting around a table, outside in the yard. No masks of course. But in shops and also outside in public close to everyone is wearing one. It’s also funny to see how masks have become a fashion accessoire for many.

The opening of the borders is planned for 1 September. This will be the real litmus test for the procedures put in place for the protection, testing, and treatment. Fingers crossed.

No further comments on the global Covid-19 situation today. If you really want to get depressed, head over to Johns Hopkins and check out Brazil, India, and South Africa. And of course the USA, even though there’s not only Covid-19 to get depressed.