19? That math can’t possibly be right

The sun is so very low in the sky – this shot is taken from the back door at nearly noon on December 22nd (the day after the the winter solstice).

Most of the time, we have clouds this time of year (so dark and deep), but every now and then the sun breaks through and glares at us in a weak winter sort of way. We’ve had an unusual number of clear mornings on the weekends this year, and it occurred to me to finally notice how low the sun is even when it’s out. After taking that photo and thinking the sun actually looked less than a third high in the sky, then I had to search on the internet to find out the exact azimuth in December. The initial results were all trig (my nemesis, I still have a mental block on all of that jr. year of high school math), but then some kind soul broke down the solstices and equinoxes in the northern hemisphere as a very simple:
Winter Solstice: 90 – (Latitude + 23.5)
Equinox: 90 – Latitude
Summer Solstice: 90 – (Latitude – 23.5)

Since Seattle’s at 47°37”, that puts the sun at 19° at the Winter Solstice, 66° at the Summer Solstice, and 42° at the equinoxes. Is that right?? If so, no wonder we’re such vitamin D-deficient, sun-deprived, pale creatures. It’s certainly not Arctic Circle levels of dark, but no wonder we start feeling a bit beleaguered by the lack of light at this time of year!

Vacation

An evening photo of Kevin by the Christmas tree on Friday night – champagne was to celebrate the beginning of vacation, since we’re both off work until January 4th.


(They’re painting my building and redoing all the carpets, plus moving all the offices around, so even if I wanted to log in and get something done there isn’t a computer there for me to log into. Kind of blissful. Kevin has extra vacation so decided to also take the time off and work on the fish tank and other house projects.)

I love this photo because it also includes the toddler tree setup – our barricade of coffee tables and end tables and toys has been more or less successful. Every now and then the kiddo takes it into his head to go over the top (hmm), but so far we’ve managed to catch an ankle before he can reach the light strands. His technique is to grab a strand and pull sharply (as if he was starting a mower) – luckily the ornaments have all bounced on the carpet rather than breaking.