Loisach River at Lake Kochelsee, Bavaria, Germany
© Christian Back/eStock Phot
Midwinter wonderland. Happy winter solstice!
The winter solstice is here. Today marks the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, while last night was the longest night of the year. This has been an important event for millennia, with evidence of celebrations going back as far as 10,000 BCE. Some of the world's most famous Stone Age monuments, including Stonehenge, are aligned with the point that the sun rises or sets on the winter solstice. Traditionally, it was a time for feasting and lighting of fires to symbolize the darkest day of the year. Ancient Germanic tribes celebrated the winter solstice by bringing evergreens into their homes as a symbol of the returning light and the coming spring.
Baobab trees at sunset, Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar
Mount Hamilton, near San Jose, California
Grove of redwoods in Redwood National and State Parks, California
Spire Cove in Kenai Fjords National Park, Seward, Alaska
Joshua trees under the Milky Way, California
Andean cocks-of-the-rock, Ecuador
Kachina Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah
Wat Tang Sai Temple in Ban Krut, Thailand
