Is the earth closer to the sun during our hot summers?

While I was writing my Groundhog Day book, I had a discussion with my editor about whether or not  the northern hemisphere where we live was furthest from the sun during wintertime.  Winters are cold, so it seemed logical.

So I contacted a NASA flight controller friend of mine, whose books for children are more scientific than mine about this.  She did a little research and discovered that the northern hemisphere is actually the furthest from the sun during earth's elliptical orbit during our summers. It's the poor southern hemisphere that is closer to the sun during their summertime.  (our winters)

Groundhog Day is Here

Will Spring be early or late?  

Punxsutawney Phil  saw his shadow, so 6 more weeks of winter.
Good!  That should mean that the rains might finally come to San Diego.

Light and darkness

Soon we'll have the darkest, the shortest day of the year.
December 21st.
This is the time of the year when light and the promise of more light to come becomes very important to our lives.

We huddle around our fires.
or woodstoves.
or electric heaters.
Fully aware that winter won't be over when the days begin getting longer. It will be just beginning. But we'll have hope, because we'll have more LIGHT.


Once Darkness falls, we turn on artificial light to keep us going.
This light doesn't just shine down on us.
It's a globe light.
It also shines up into space.


But lights from space also shine down upon us in wintertime.
The Northern Lights!
(Which we can't see here in Maryland, but we certainly do enjoy seeing pictures of them shining in Alaska.)

Yes, the shortest, darkest day is coming, but fear not -- Light will come back.
-wendieO