The Long Shadow of Winter

As this rolling globe of rock and flame continues along it’s annual migration ’round the sun, that blazing god of heat, light and life begins to rise higher into our blue sky. Spring is just around the bend, and I have just turned 35.

In Winter, the sun is lower on the horizon. We get less of its rays, longer nights and colder days. And being lower in the sky means longer shadows. Everything about the Winter months leads to darkness.

But as March progresses, I flip my personal calendar, and our closest star climbs higher into the air, we’re at a most wonderful time. We are as far away from the long, dark and cold of Winter as possible. As season chasers, we’ll have a Summer-like spring in the deserts of the southwest before migrating to a more traditional northern setting for June, July and August.

But for today, it’s all short sleeves and short hikes to see the Hetch Hetchy, its waterfalls and wildlife. California’s Sierra Nevadas are a grand old place to spend a birthday and transition the seasons, and I couldn’t be happier to see that big sun rising.