#500

If there is such a thing as a normal day, I imagine today could have been it for many across the Twin Cities.

It's a typical 18 degrees out. Some snow on the ground, but not too much—just enough to keep things white for Christmas. Many probably took the day off or left work around lunch to get an early start on the holiday festivities—last minute shopping, secret family recipes, generations-long traditions. Indeed, the skies are a nice winter blue:

But today is not normal for (at least) two reasons.

First, today is the Winter solstice of 2012. You can read about the technical details here, but the practical significance is this: the days are now getting longer. No more will the lazy sun crawl under the covers at the absurd hour of 4:34pm. (Well, at least not for another year or so.) And longer days mean more sunshine. And more sunshine, while a happiness in itself, also means more opportunity for evening wanderings in the light. Sure, the solstice also marks the beginning of winter . . . who knows how many inches of snow are waiting to fall from the sky in the cold months ahead. Even so, the days will keep getting longer.

Second though, and more significantly, today, for the 500th time this year, I ran across a bridge:

#500: The Bridge Which (Still) Must Not Be Named