TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2014

On Sunday morning, December 21, join our group as we celebrate the sunrise.

From this Sunday forward, as you surely know, our nights will shorten and our days will lengthen — well, at least until the Summer solstice in June.

For, as it happens every year, the axial tilt of our planet ensures that the Northern Hemisphere will begin to get increasing amounts of sunlight for the next six months. You can picture it this way: we are entering the part of our orbit in which the earth will be leaning in…

Go yellow dwarf star we call the “sun”! Go ball of iron and magma with a mantle and a crust we call the “earth”! Go repeating pattern of sunlight and shadow and all the carbon-based lifeforms dependent on it!

Including us. Wow it’s good to be alive.

Here’s the plan. Bundle your family in the brightest most rainbow-colored clothes you can find. Scarves, blankets, jackets, gloves, anything.

Get them in the car, while it’s still dark, and meet us at Inspiration Point in Tilden Park at 6:45 am. There is plenty of parking.

We will be walking out along the paved Nimitz Way at 6:50 SHARP. After about a 10-minute walk we will reach a rounded hill, where there is a small dirt/mud path leading to the crest. Bring shoes that can grip the earth, even when muddy. At the top we will have a view both to the East and the West.

At 7:21 will greet the rising sun, wonder at the clouds, watch the light catch the far-off waves of our dear Bay.

I plan on bringing a big Pete’s coffee, with milk and sugar, for grown-ups. I will also bring cups. (Or you can bring your own travel mug if you like.) Who can bring a big thermos of hot chocolate for kids? They will certainly deserve it. More than one may be needed.

See you on Sunday morn. Extra points for those who know why winter lasts another three months even though the days get longer… I