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Is Today the Shortest Day of the Year?

Today is the Winter Solstice, normally the shortest day of the year. On the plus side, the days will start to get longer on Sunday.

Sunset was quite early today. Today is the Winter Solstice, traditionally the day that marks the shortest day of the year. Sure this means we don't get a lot of sunshine today, but on the plus side the Solstice marks the time when the days begin to get longer. However, though today is the Solstice, the actual shortest day of 2012 will be tomorrow. According to timeanddate.com the December solstice occurs when the sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. It is normally on Dec. 21, but the actual shortest day can be between Dec. 20 and 23 depending on the year. According to sunrisesunset.com, the shortest day of the year in this area will be on Dec. 22. On that day the sun will rise at 7:12 a.m. and set at 4:15 p.m. After…

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Parents and Families

Moon Night Hike, Winter Solstice Activities at Garden in the Woods

Garden in the Woods and The New England Wildflower Society are Framingham's very own hometown gems. Read on for exciting new activities and events happening this fall.

Did you know that New England’s premier wildflower garden, named one of the 1,000 Great Places to Visit in Massachusetts in 2010 by Yankee Magazine, is right here in our very own backyard? Located at 180 Hemenway Rd. in Framingham, the New England Wild Flower Society was founded over 100 years ago and exists to conserve and promote the region’s native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.   The Society is recognized as one of the nation's leading plant conservation organizations. It also owns and operates Garden in the Woods which showcases the largest landscaped collection of wildflowers in the Northeast. Garden in the Woods is the Society’s headquarters as well as a public botanic garden and horticultural study …

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Celebrating the Shortest Day

Parishioners of Grace Congregational Church celebrated the winter solstice, with a bonfire, carol singing and s'mores.

At 6:20 tonight, Redevelopment Pastor Bradford Watters let his two dogs jump out of his car to run in the field out back, put on some extra layers, and walked around the yard of Grace Congregational United Church of Christ. He was looking for a spot to put the firepot for the Winter Solstice Celebration scheduled to start in 10 minutes. People slowly trickled into the church. Karolyne White, a member of the church since 1972, waited inside for the celebration to begin. Upstairs in the kitchen, Ronda Yeomans poured a jug of cider into a Crock-Pot. Outside, Watters and a group of parishioners settled on using the side yard of the church and worked on getting a fire going there. The flames started slowly, first producing a lot of smoke. …

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