Welcome, winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless. ~Terri Guillemets
The winter solstice has arrived – every day from now on will be a little longer and a little brighter as the light returns. It is no wonder that we turn to celebrations of light at this time of year in the northern hemisphere with candles, yule logs, and lights on our Christmas trees.
Mother Nature celebrated the earth’s return towards the light in her own way. The early sunset of the winter solstice lit up the sky with colors ranging from tints of pink, yellow, and blue to fiery corals and golds blazing into the deepening night. It seemed fitting that the shortest day of the year provided the loveliest light. May your days be merry and bright in this season and the next.
The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Terri Guillemets
You can find some of my winter and Christmas music in the Christmas tab at the top of the page – happy solstice and Merry Christmas, everyone!
composerinthegarden 
A tardy glad sostice and new year to you! The sky in that first picture is truly dazzling.
A belated happy sostice and new year to you! The sky in that first picture is really lovely.
Happy sun-standing-still (i.e. solstice) and sunrise to you, and likewise for the impending new year.
What caught my attention in your text was the would-be last name Guillemets, which I immediately assumed to be a nom de plume because guillemets is French for ‘quotation marks’. A quick search confirmed that:
http://www.quotegarden.com/terri-guillemets.html
Steve, I tracked that down too and found the treasure trove that is her “quote garden”. I’m not entirely sure that it is a nom de plume, though – she is fairly open about herself. I am delighted to find her site – in addition to her great collection of quotes, she includes the literary source along with the author, always a pleasure to see.
I found the Quote Garden a few years ago, and it is one of the most delightful and positive sites I’ve found!
You have captured the season of the lights very well. Cheers to the positive nature that the season delivers. Merry Christmas to you and yours … and my holiday post with treats goes up around 5.
Thank you, Frank – Merry Christmas to you as well! I’ll be stop by for a treat 🙂
What a beautiful sunset. We also had a lovely pink sky yesterday and even today there was a hint of pink. You are quite right. We need to celebrate the light which is why we northerners enjoy the Christmas lights and probably why January is such a sad and dull month. May the lights remain until the end of March!!!
Thank you, Jude. Sunny winter days are rare here, but the tradeoff is the beauty of the seasonal change. Much light to you!
What a glorious sunrise! Winter has such delights. A very Merry Christmas to you, Lynn, and thank you for another year of wonderful posts, sharing your many gifts!
Thank you, Kitty – it was a breathtaking 15 minutes of changing color in the sky! A Merry Christmas to you, Kitty – enjoy the beauty of the season.