More Light

Plunged into Alaska darkness, resident artist and philosopher king, Chris Stevens, presents his sculpture. Scroll ahead to 38:59 to hear his presentation.

The Winter Solstice...

In astronomy, the seasons move in celestial cycles. As the earth rotates around the sun, it also spins on its own axis, which tilts towards the plane of its rotation (about 23.5 degrees). As the autumn winds down, the northern hemisphere receives less direct sunlight.

Days of less and less light, moving towards the birth of winter and a new year. The sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, unmoving on the horizon. "Solstice" translates from the Latin “sun” and “standing still”. And in this shift, the northern hemisphere experiences its first moments of winter. And the annual winter solstice begins.

This marks the shortest day. It is also the longest night. After the darkest dark of the solstice's first night, in the morning, the sun will again ascend in the northern sky and this first winter's day will be a little longer. And all the days begin to grow longer. It is the Earth returning to light.

There will be more light. And more light.

From Northern Exposure's Northern Lights episode, here's Chris Stevens' full LIGHT speech:

"Goethe’s final words: more light. Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, that’s been our unifying cry: more light. Sunlight, torchlight, candlelight, neon, incandescent, light to banish the darkness from our caves, to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators. Big floods for the night games at Soldier’s Field, little tiny flashlight for those books we read under the covers when we’re supposed to be asleep. Light is more than watts and foot candles, light is metaphor. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Rage, rage against the dying of the light! Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, lead thou me on. The night is dark and I am far from home, lead thou me on. Arise, shine, for thy light has come. Light is knowledge, light is life, light is light."