It's A 5 O'Clock Thing

If there is one thing I hate about winter time it is the fact that it gets dark so early. Wandering about in the gloom ate 3.30 in the afternoon is just not right.

There are two points in winter when I start to feel that the year is heading in the right direction.

The first is the 21st December, Midwinter Day or Yule as it was once called. Yes folks your Yule Log comes from this Pagan festival celebrated mostly by the Norsemen of old. The birth of the new sun when the days start to lengthen and we move inexorably towards the spring.

The second is just a personal thing for me. No historical or religious significance. It is when it is still light at 5 o'clock in the evening. Don't ask me why I feel this way as I could not give you a logical

answer. I just do.

When it is 5 o'clock and still light it tells me that we are nearly there, nearly out of the darkness of winter and into the real New Year rapidly heading towards spring.

Daft as it seems, I just cannot wait for that to happen. Lifts the spirit and the heart. Definitely not a 5 o'clock shadow!

Soon be summer!