Winter Solstice

Anyone with one good ear or one good eye is probably sick of me griping about the short days here in Cambridge. Good news for you! Today is the Winter Solstice and therefore the shortest day of the year so the days will be getting noticeably longer soon and you can start answering the phone again when I call :) But, to prove my point, I did some research. Here are a few stats for you:

Los Angeles: 34° 05' North Latitude Sunrise: 6:55am Sunset: 4:48pm
New York: 40° 44' North Latitude Sunrise: 7:17am Sunset: 4:32pm
Cambridge: 51° 53° North Latitude Sunrise: 8:03am Sunset: 3:48pm

So that means that people near LA in latitude had more than two more hours of daylight than we had today and people near New York had an extra hour and a half! We were lucky that the sun was out today so we did get out and enjoy it with a bike ride along the Cam and a walk through Angelsey Abbey. The first picture was taken on our street at 8:20am and the second was taken in the winter gardens at Angelsey Abbey at about 3:30pm...crazy, huh!?!

Tree Trimming Party

Last night, we hosted a tree trimming party for Molly and George's first Christmas tree. We had about 20 people, representing at least 7 nationalities...even a couple of Britons! We got to sample Christmas foods from all over the world. We had some rocking' homemade eggnog (American), delicious Panettone (Italian), sausage (Serbian), and even tried our hand at mulled wine. Everyone helped decorate the tree with whatever materials they wanted including these cute gingerbread men! For the time being, Buddy seems to be tolerating their existence. My friend Regina and I even discovered an excellent vegan gingerbread cookie recipe. Thanks to everyone who came and helped get the house ready for Christmas!

Weather Forecast

I'm not sure if this weather forecast is funny to anyone else but watching this video makes me want to simultaneously roll on the floor laughing and pull all of my hair out!  Thanks, Meg, for sharing this video.

St. John's College Advent Carol Service

Last Saturday evening we got to hear the St. John's College Advent Carol service in the St. John's Chapel.  Let me just say "Wow!"  The service is similar to the renowned King's College Lessons and Carols Christmas Eve service but we didn't have to stand out in the cold and rain starting at 7am to get in!  The service is available to hear for three more days through the BBC or through St. John's.  Just click on one of the links and put it on in the background while you work or play and get into the Christmas spirit!  If you hear a particularly melodious soprano or bass voice singing the hymns...well, it's not us.  The service you will hear was recorded on Sunday morning!