{"id":119272,"date":"2023-12-21T04:22:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T11:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119272"},"modified":"2023-12-21T04:23:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T11:23:55","slug":"happy-winter-solstice-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/21\/happy-winter-solstice-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Winter Solstice 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SunlightSunlight and shadows on the snowy Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/p>\n

Blessed Winter Solstice to you and yours!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As the light is reborn this Winter Solstice, may your heart lift with the joy of new beginnings and nature’s blessings.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Winter Solstice has been celebrated for millennia as a time of renewal, rebirth, and celebration in various cultures and traditions. It has been marked by festivals, rituals, and customs that honor the return of the sun and the halfway point of winter, making it a significant and enduring event in human history.<\/p>\n

Occurring on December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, signaling the start of winter according to human calendars. Since prehistory, it has been celebrated as a time of renewal and reverence, symbolizing the death and rebirth of the Sun.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the Winter Solstice has been celebrated in pagan traditions such as Yule, which is associated with themes of light, fire, and feasting.<\/p>\n

I look forward to the Winter Solstice each year because it marks when the days start getting longer. On this day, I celebrate Mother Nature and our Mother Earth. I think about what I want to keep in my life and what I want to get rid of\u2014what is good for me and what isn’t.<\/p>\n

This year, I am also celebrating the woman who gave me life because it is my first Solstice without her here on earth. She’d want me to celebrate today; my mother loved nature as much as I do.<\/p>\n

We are<\/em> nature.<\/p>\n

Light is returning. Even though it is the darkest hour. No one can hold back the dawn.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blessed Solstice to you and yours.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

See more of my Utah landscape photos here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I look forward to the Winter Solstice each year because it marks when the days start getting longer. On this day, I celebrate Mother Nature and our Mother Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10893,709,26,773],"tags":[4101,4069,6910,3973,4018,4050,4093,4328,8018,30,1164,4176,13566],"class_list":["post-119272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-clouds","tag-mountains","tag-peaks","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-sky","tag-snow","tag-snow-covered","tag-snowy","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-wasatch-mountain-range","tag-wasatch-mountains","tag-winter-solstice"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/wasatch-mountain-range-snowy-peaks-mia-mcpherson-5171.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-v1K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108946,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/22\/cloudy-and-gray-winter-solstice\/","url_meta":{"origin":119272,"position":0},"title":"Cloudy And Gray Winter Solstice","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"My Winter Solstice was cloudy and gray. I wandered down to my local pond to take in my first day of winter views of the Wasatch Mountains plus a few birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cloudy and gray Wasatch Mountains, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/wasatch-range-winter-solstice-mia-mcpherson-6440.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/wasatch-range-winter-solstice-mia-mcpherson-6440.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/wasatch-range-winter-solstice-mia-mcpherson-6440.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/wasatch-range-winter-solstice-mia-mcpherson-6440.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98353,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/21\/happy-winter-solstice-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":119272,"position":1},"title":"Happy Winter Solstice 2021!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy Solstice and Yuletide! Hello Winter! Happy return to the light!","rel":"","context":"In "American Robins"","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin against a winter sky, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-robin-winter-sky-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-robin-winter-sky-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-robin-winter-sky-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/american-robin-winter-sky-mia-mcpherson-2812.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76259,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/18\/canada-geese-on-the-wing-in-front-of-the-snowy-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":119272,"position":2},"title":"Canada Geese On The Wing In Front Of The Snowy Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I love to photograph birds on the wing. It doesn't matter if my subject is as small as a hummingbird, as large as an eagle, as slow as a gliding pelican, or as fast as a stooping falcon as long as it is a bird.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter Canada Geese on the wing, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-geese-snow-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5427.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-geese-snow-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5427.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-geese-snow-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5427.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-geese-snow-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5427.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75603,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/30\/snowy-wasatch-mountain-peak-and-sunlight\/","url_meta":{"origin":119272,"position":3},"title":"Snowy Wasatch Mountain Peak And Sunlight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"There are days I spend as much time looking at the scenery as I do photographing birds because I think we live on an amazingly beautiful planet.","rel":"","context":"In "Salt Lake County"","block_context":{"text":"Salt Lake County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/salt-lake-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunlight on a snowy Wasatch Mountain peak, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/wasatch-mountain-peak-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-5222.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/wasatch-mountain-peak-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-5222.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/wasatch-mountain-peak-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-5222.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/wasatch-mountain-peak-winter-snow-mia-mcpherson-5222.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55622,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/11\/lone-canada-goose-flying-in-front-of-the-snow-covered-wasatch-mountain-range\/","url_meta":{"origin":119272,"position":4},"title":"Lone Canada Goose Flying In Front Of The Snow Covered Wasatch Mountain Range","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In the case of this photo of a lone Canada Goose flying in front of the snowy Wasatch Mountains I took the photo because I liked how nicely lit the goose was in contrast to the darker, snow and cloud covered mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lone Canada Goose Flying in front of snowy Wasatch Mountains, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-flight-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5047.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-flight-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5047.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-flight-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5047.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/canada-goose-flight-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5047.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72402,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/08\/03\/wintry-view-of-bear-river-mbr-and-the-snow-covered-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":119272,"position":5},"title":"Wintry View Of Bear River MBR And The Snow-covered Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Just viewing this winter photo of the refuge made me feel refreshed and cooler. I also realized it might be hot now but cooler weather will be here before long.","rel":"","context":"In "American Herring Gulls"","block_context":{"text":"American Herring Gulls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gulls\/herring-gulls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter view of Bear River MBR and the snowy Wasatch Mountains, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-winter-view-mia-mcpherson-0594.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-winter-view-mia-mcpherson-0594.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-winter-view-mia-mcpherson-0594.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge-winter-view-mia-mcpherson-0594.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}