It's generally understood that the calendar New Year and even Christmas are positioned at this time to co-opt one of the high pagan holidays: the winter solstice. You don't have to be an astronomer to know that the north is inclined away from the sun today.
It is dark and blustery over Carr Field at midday; the sun hangs low over The Blackwater, and the local TV station has a clock counting down the minutes until the start of winter. Snow squalls race by from the northwest, and the granite bench near the pond is a study in grays and white:
Can it be that long ago that our world was ablaze with color?
