The longest night~~

Thursday Dec. 21, 2006, marks the solstice—the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The Winter Solstice, the shortest day, longest night of the year! Winter begins OFFICIALLY! Now commences the long winter evening around the farmer's hearth, when the thoughts of the indwellers travel far abroad, and men are by nature and necessity charitable and liberal to all creatures. Now is the happy resistance to cold, when the farmer reaps his reward, and thinks of his preparedness for winter… Henry David Thoreau, "A Winter Walk,"Excursions, p.134. The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920