Have you noticed the sun hovering just a tad bit higher lately? I have. Every morning while Laura and I eat breakfast in the kitchen, I’m forced to close the front window curtains at around 11AM. If I don’t, the sun that slowly creeps across the sky will ever so hesitantly, yet persistently, blind me. As of late though, I haven’t had to close the curtains. The sun’s trail now strides above the window’s edge, out of reach of my tender eyes.
When I think of winter, I tend to think of dark and gloomy days. While yes, December days do grow shorter and shorter as they continue on from mid-July, by the time the year closes though, there’s a semi-marked difference in each day’s duration. And as I just mentioned above, that subtle difference reveals a higher path for our beloved star – one that sits more and more true to the center of the blue than the day before.
January isn’t a terrible month in Maine. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, there’s actually quite a decent amount of sun to be had. Strange, I know. You’d think it’d be snowing all the time and that we’d be battling blizzard after blizzard. If you were to visit our neck of the woods tomorrow, I think you’d be surprised by what you’d find. Easy walking weather. Easy relaxing weather. A nice cool breeze. But that may just be because this winter has been a mild one, minus the cold snap we recently experienced and that’s set to soon return. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy the easiness of it all, knock on wood.
The topic of discussion around this time of year eventually and predictably centers on how much light is being added to each day. While we know the days are getting longer, practically no one knows exactly by how much. That’s where I come in – to offer a neat little tool you’ll likely use for the rest of your life. How do I know this? Because I’ve been using it since circa 2010. And what a cool tool it is. If you’re interested, this tool will tell you everything you’ll likely want to know about sunshine and darkness, from the daylight and nighttime hours, astronomical twilight, nautical twilight, civil twilight, solar noon/midnight, and more. Interested? You can check it out here for my nearby town of Farmington, Maine. For your own town, simply add your city to the search box and hit enter. This is something like what you’ll find:
Below the graph is a table that reveals data regarding each and every day of the current month. If you like technical data, you’ll be thrilled with this tool. It’s almost too much fun.
So the next time you’re wondering how much more sunshine you’re enjoying today compared to yesterday, stop by the Time and Date website, or better yet, download and use one of their apps. And then let me know what you find.
