On Saturday, January 29, 2022 – a clear sunny day -- the sun rose at 7:41 p.m. and set at 5:39 p.m. giving us a day with nearly 10-hours of daylight (9 hours and 58 minutes to be exact).

 

It was a cold day – 9 deg. F in the morning, rising to 16 deg. F in the afternoon, and then dropping to 6 deg. F by midnight.

 

The lead photograph shows Jefferson Park as seen from the second floor window of our house facing Cooley Avenue on the morning of Saturday, January 29, 2022 – on a day when we got nearly 10-hours of daylight. With freezing temperatures every day – the 11 inches of snow from January 16 and 5 inches more since – has not yet melted.

 

The second photograph shows the empty bird feeder in the backyard of our house in the morning. Mostly sparrows come in to feed and I have to fill it up every 2 to 3 days.

 

 

With freezing temperatures, icicles are hanging on from the roof and porch canopy (see third photograph) as observed in the morning.

 

 

The fourth photograph shows Smokey (left) and Gingy (right) – mother and son – our two outdoor cats – and my year-round constant companions taking in the sun in our rear porch.

 

 

The rays of the sun (from 93 million miles away) lighting up our living room (see fifth photograph) as observed in the evening– at 4:19 p.m.

 

 

The last photograph shows a resident with his dog pausing while taking a walk around Jefferson Park – shortly before sunset.

 

 

On the first day of winter -- December 21, 2021 --- the sun rose at 7:49 a.m. and set at 5:00 p.m. -- giving us a nearly 9-hour day of sunlight.

 

Today, we got nearly 10-hours of sunlight – a gain of nearly an hour since start of winter.

 

The days are getting longer -- on the first day of spring -- about 7-weeks away -- we will have 12-hour long days -- and the start of the blossoming of flowers.

 

Enjoy the remaining winter – stay healthy and cheerful!