The winter solstice occurred in Canada at 7:04 a.m., which means the great turnaround can begin!

Here in Toronto, the sun rose this morning at 7:48 a.m. and will set at 4:44 p.m.

Way up in Edmonton, sunrise occurred at 8:48 a.m., with sundown at 4:16 p.m.

In a month or so, winter's psychological grip on me will be substantially broken. That's when I really start to notice the returning light. And now we're only three months from the equinox!

Christmas is nice, and I'm not intentionally downplaying its importance to Christians, but to me, the solstice is a more logical event around which to organize an early winter celebration.

Speaking of celebrations, at 6 p.m., the Kensington Market Festival of Lights gets underway!

Addenda

Some solstice-related reading:

CBC.ca: Winter Solstice: December's often-overlooked event

BBC: Winter solstice at Stonehenge (photo gallery; here's the news story)

BBC: Paganism - Winter solstice

Toronto Star: Reserve is a refuge from artificial light

The Star story is about the dark sky reserve at Torrance Barrens north of Orillia.

And speaking of light pollution therapy, I addressed the topic a few years back.