Hi all, the solstice* has me wondering who the other far north/ far south members of this board are. I know of a couple other Fairbanks, Alaska members, but I think I’m the farthest north of us. There’s got to be someone on this board who’s farther north than 65 degrees. (We’re not even above the arctic circle – the sun still comes up for a couple hours on winter solstice). Show yourself! The same goes for our mirror image in the southern hemisphere – any far southerners out there?
*Today is winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year; summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, the longest day of the year.
At my office in Frederick, MD, I’m alleged to be at Latitude - 39.373967 and Longitude - 77.390459.
While we get more sun than Alaska, I’ve made special arrangements to change my work hours so I can leave at 4 and get the worst of the drive done in the daylight.
On the up-side, we’re having a little Solstice pot-luck lunch here today. We’re all getting hungry, smelling the crockpot-driven aromas!
“Gettysburg” sounds a lot farther from Frederick than it is…about 30 miles, more or less.
Does your friend play a whistle?
Also, there’s a very fun and friendly monthly contra dance in Frederick, but not this month. We’re 4th Saturdays, and this year that’s Christmas Day. (Visit http://www.contradancers.com/mmfac/index.htm for our schedule.)
I’m sorry I wasn’t in the Atlanta area in November quite long enough to look anyone up–I spent most of my visit with my mom in Fort Payne, Ala.
No, but she has the most wonderful voice… Next time you’re in the area, with some time to spare, please do give a holler-- it would be great to meet you in person!!
It would be way cool to look up some whistlers in the Atlanta area. I may try to get down there during the schools’ spring break in April, as my hostess (my youngest sister) teaches high school science (may God grant her patience!).
Well, I copied the latitude and longitude from the official Fairbanks weather station, which is at the airport. I actually live northeast of the airport, so it’s off by a little, but close enough. (One shouldn’t post one’s exact residence address on the web, right? )
For the curious, here’s a website that list day lengths for various locations in Alaska: http://www.alaska.com/about/weather/story/4481284p-4773632c.html
Although the sun went down almost an hour ago, it’s still pretty light out. Also, the moon reflecting off of the snow cover gives a surprising amount of light for about half the month. It really ISN’T dark and dreary. And it isn’t even very cold today – only -6 F in town this afternoon.
There’s gotta be someone on this board who lives farther north . . . or did they all sustain lip-crippling whistling accidents, playing metal whistles outside in December?
A mere 46 deg. Latitude here. With recent temperatures nearing negative 40 deg. C here, I can easily imagine how such lip-crippling accidents may occur further north than I am.
The only “good” thing there is to say about -40 is that it’s the temperature at which Fahrenheit and Celsius agree, so you don’t have to bother to write degrees “F” or “C”. Oh yeah – wood also splits really easily when it’s that cold. But the inner surfaces of your nose freeze together when you inhale, which is unpleasant. I’d hope the weather warms up for you soon, Crevan, except that when you guys are getting severe cold, we’re usually getting nicer weather, and I’m selfish.
Please excuse my ignorance and thanks for that little tid-bit. I had no idea Celsius and Fahrenheit had a point in which there were equal.
There’s nothing quite like a little nose frost on that first breath of air in the morning. That temperature broke a record for the coldest day in December ever recorded in this area. There’s always January though…
)