今日は冬至です。

　大分、色づいて食べ頃になった金柑です。金柑は風邪に効くといわれており、今日、初めて捥いで食べてみます。実は、私は３日間ほど風邪の症状で苦しみましたが、今日はかなり回復してます。このため、金柑の力で風邪を吹き飛ばしたいです。そして、これからの冬本番を乗り切るつもりです。

　今回の風邪の原因は寒い中で長時間、直径１０cmもあるハクモクレンの大きな葉１０００枚ほどを搔き集め、一気に築山に載せた作業によるものです。もちろんすべて一人で行いました。気持ちは青年でも、今までより体力が低下しているのでしょう。作業そのものは築山が良くなるので楽しかったです。

　ところで、今日は昼の長さが一年で最も短いとされる「冬至」です。今日の地球は「冬のダイアモンド」の方角に来ています。具体的には「アルデバラン」と「ポルックス」の間の方角に来ています。私の住む群馬県では、日の出は６時５１分、日の入りは１６時３２分で、昼の長さは９時間４１分です。調べてみると、根室市では日の出６時４７分、日の入りは１５時４５分で、昼の長さは８時間５６分です。一方、宮古島市では日の出７時１９分、日の入りは１７時５４分で、昼の長さは１０時間３５分と、日本でもかなりの違いがあることが分かります。

　ですから、昼の長さは北に行くほど短くなり、南に行くほど長くなり、北極点では今日を中心として約半年間夜であり、南極点では今日を中心として約半年間昼が続いています。

Dear my overseas friends who are interested in Nature and great music

　The kumquats have colored and are ripe to eat. They are said to be effective against cold, so today I will pick some for the first time in this season and try to eat them. I've actually been suffering from cold symptoms for about three days, but I'm feeling much better today. So I want to use the power of kumquats to blow away my cold. And I'm going to get through the winter that's coming up.

　The cause of cold this time is the work I did in the cold for a long time, gathering about 1,000 large leaves of the white magnolia tree, each leaves are 10 cm in diameter, and piling them all up on the mound Taskiyama for plants at once. Of course, I did it all by myself. Even though I feel like a young man, my physical strength is probably weaker than before. The work itself was fun because it improved the Taskiyama.

　By the way, today is the winter solstice in Northern Hemisphere including Japan. Today, the Earth is in the direction of the "Winter Diamond." More specifically, it is in the direction between "Aldebaran in Taurus and Pollux in Gemini." The winter solstice is said to be the shortest day of the year. In Gumma Prefecture where I live, sunrise is at 6:51 and sunset is at 16:32, making the daylight length 9 hours and 41 minutes. Upon investigation, I found that in Nemuro city situated in Hokkaido, sunrise is at 6:47 and sunset is 15:45, making the length of the day 8 hours 56 minutes, while in Miyakojima city situated in southern place in Japan, sunrise is 7:19 and sunset is 17:54, making the length of the day 10 hours 35 minutes. We can see that there are considerable differences even within Japan.

　Therefore, the length of the day becomes shorter the further north you go and longer, the further south you go, and at the North Pole it has been night for about half a year centered on today, while at the South Pole it has been daylight for about half a year centered on today.

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