Here’s a Few Fun Facts surrounding our Winter Solstice
Did you know ……
In Latin, ‘solstice’ translates into ‘sol’ meaning the sun, and ‘sistere’ meaning to stand still.
“For only one brief astronomical moment in time, the sun stands completely still.”*
*In reality, the sun never stands still. If it did, from our perspective, that would mean the earth suddenly stopped orbiting and rotating. Not desirable!
Did you know ……
The winter solstice is often called midwinter, the longest night, or the shortest day. It refers to a moment in time in which the period of daylight is at its shortest. In the Northern Hemisphere, this always happens between December 20 and 23. On this day, the 23.5 degree tilt of the earth’s axis of rotation engulfs the North Pole in continuous darkness or twilight.
Did you know ……
Yule is an ancient pagan season rooted in Norse, Germanic, and Celtic traditions, originally celebrated around the winter solstice. It honored the rebirth of the sun, the endurance of life during deep winter, and the protective power of fire and community. Yule symbolically bridged darkness and the gradual return of light. Today’s modern holiday customs, such as candles, feasting, evergreen decorations, and gatherings, have been influenced by those Pagan rituals of the past. And today, the blending of Yule’s myth and cultural memory appeals to those seeking grounding rituals, nature-based practices, and a deeper connection to seasonal cycles.
For more fun facts about Winter Solstice, check out these past posts shared on December 21, 2022 and 2024.
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Thanks to all for following my creative adventures over the past year(s). Your thoughtful comments and likes are truly appreciated. I’m looking forward to another full year of learning and sharing information about our fascinating natural world. As always, thanks for coming along!
Wishing everyone all the best this winter season and brilliant sunshiny days in the coming year.
It’s a wrap! EggTober 2025 – the Full Four Submissions- all in one place!
My 3 minute YouTube video (see link below) features all 32 annotated bird egg paintings submitted for Inktober2025, along with several bonuses you won’t want to miss!
1) a pair of never-seen-before annotated Common Nighthawk eggs painted for the cover of my 6”x9” handmade journal ………
2) an index, by common name and date of appearance, of the 32 bird eggs painted and annotated between October 1 and November 1, 2025 ………
3) an accordion book attached to the inside back cover that has all the fascinating details about each of the 8 layers of an avian eggshell
YouTube Video Link
For some reason, I’m unable to embed my YouTube video directly into this post. This is rather inconvenient, huh! So until I can troubleshoot the player issue, I’d love for you to click on the link below to view the video on my YouTube channel!
Many Hearty Thanks, Sharing Creative Ideas, Answering the ‘Kat’ Kwestion
April 1, 2025
Completing my 15th sketchbook, and beginning the next one is always cause for celebration! To do so, Kat and I thought it would be especially fitting to shout-from-the-treetops enthusiastically, THANK YOU! Thank you all, my loyal subscribers, for coming along on my interesting, hopefully educational, sometimes crazy, always curious nature journaling adventure.
My recent webinar class, “Create a Colorful Reptile Eye1,” sponsored by Host Karen Abend (of Sketchbook Revival fame), generated many new subscribers to my web page and blog, “A Curious Nature.” Wow! And Thanks so much. A special thanks to those who attended the live and/or recorded class. I loved seeing so many colorful lizard eyes (a sampling below). They were incredible!
Sharing the Wonder of Nature
With all the past and current activity on my blog, I feel so fortunate and very encouraged to carry on. Even though new postings have been random lately, there’s lots of works-in-progress soon to be shared. Meanwhile, comments including what you like about my posts and what you’d like to see more of, are always appreciated. What inspired you to subscribe to this blog? If it’s just enjoy, that’s perfect! Or maybe you’d like tips to develop a regular or even a daily creative practice, how can I be more encouraging? I’d love to know if you are an active nature journaler or tangler, or express yourself by creating art in other ways, such as through music, poetry, or storytelling. Send me your ideas by commenting on this or any future posts. I’ve created my webpage and blog because of my insatiable curiosity about the natural world. It’s extraordinarily fun to go beyond learning what the names of flowers, animals, rocks, and clouds are. The excitement of wondering and discovering answers for all the why’s, who’s, when’s, and how’s is so rewarding. Sharing is my joy!
Explaining Kat
Thinking new subscribers may be puzzled by my constantly mentioning Flambé or Kat or both, now might be a good time for explanation and background (and perhaps provide a refresher for those who’ve been following along from day 1 of my blog):
In 2014, a young stray calico cat showed up one day on our doorstep when we (Roy and I) lived in Oriental, North Carolina (U.S.A.). This little wild miss seemed to magically appear from our backyard woods, perhaps in search of a meal or a friend. She sat and meowed for a few minutes, but when we opened the door, she ran away. Efforts to get close to her when she returned several times during the week were futile. Then one day she vanished and never returned. Not knowing what may have happened to this pretty kitty, Roy thought a nice remembrance of her visit would be to add a small cat sketch to my next drawing. A dandy idea!“But only one drawing,” I thought? It was at that moment that Flambé appeared on my creative doorstep, and has never left!
Flambé, aka Kat, is always smiling, popping in and out of all my art, regardless if the piece is imaginatively & whimsically tangled or a serious nature study. Along with forming the best part of my signature “chop,” she’s the heroine of some pretty wild and crazy tangled misadventures, sometimes pushing Kat’s 9-lives threshold to satisfy her insatiably curious nature (and appetite). Flambé adores being noticed, whether she hides inside the story, or shows up front and center. She makes everything creative more fun. Flambé may be just “Kat,” but she’s my inspiration for and reminder about the value of komic relief, and makes the perfect konstant kompanion!
Whew! That’s all for now. Hopefully your questions about this blog, inspiration and Kat have been answered. If you’re craving to learn answers to other related topics, let me know. Meanwhile, Flambé and I wish you an exciting and creative remainder of the year ….. have times full of happiness, creativity, and memorable adventures, but most of all laughter and fun!
Hope to hear from you soon, and as always, thanks for stopping by!
Meow!
1Unfortunately, the class or recording are no longer available for viewing. But I may have another live demo class some day in the future. If so, you can be sure the announcement will show up on my blog.
a curious nature 