IFAS Matters - December 2012

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Jack Payne

Dec. 21, 2012, 7:11 a.m. EST Marks the Solstice – The Beginning of Winter in the Northern Hemisphere and Summer in the Southern Hemisphere

Evidence of the winter solstice in north central Florida comes very subtly. The crepe myrtles and sycamores, usually showy and robust during the summer, put on a little rouge and discreetly drop their leaves. The pine trees quietly swap out their needles for new ones, leaving a blanket of russet quills on the ground. Azaleas and camellias, after patiently waiting out the hot summer days, seem to appear all at once, seizing their ephemeral glory before a hard frost defeats them.

It’s completely understandable why the ancients considered the winter solstice a very important day. They reckoned that if the sun kept sinking lower and lower, with the amount of sunlight decreasing each day, soon everything would be black, and life would cease. On the solstice, the sun stopped (solstice means "sun standing still") and started to climb in the sky. Clearly, it was a time of great festivity, as the increasing hours of sunlight meant that life would continue.

There are many murky superstitions that enshroud the winter solstice, but the silliest is that it’s possible to stand an egg upright on its end just as the solstice begins. It’s also doable to stand an egg on its end at any other time of the year with enough practice and skill. To the best of my knowledge, the only connection between success in standing eggs upright and the solstice is that because of the superstition, many more people (no one that I know, though), try this on the solstice than on any other date.

My friends and I can think of much better ways to celebrate winter, though. We have our eggs over easy and then go fishing in Chokaluskee or Cedar Key or fishing almost anywhere in Florida!

Have a merry one!

-Jack

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