Calendar winter starts on Thomas’s day at 18.28

Photo Arne Ader
Translation Liis

Spruce forest

With Toomapäev, the day of St Thomas the Apostle, the shortening of days ends and  the calendar winter begins.

From December 21st to 24th the days are of almost equal length. The sun is at the southernmost point of its journey and in addition to all else we all feel the lack of snowlights.

The day’s length in these days is only a few minutes more than six hours. An hour of morning and evening dusk and so darkness in a day and night will be nearly sixteen hours..

Geography makes daylight almost a quarter of an hour longer in South Estonia than on the northern coast. Similarly the day on our islands is a little longer than on the shore of Lake Peipus.

We live in expectation of winter .