Day 0: December 21, 2014 Preliminaries Comment via blog

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The pictures on this page were taken the night before I hit the road. I had thought rather seriously about attending the Lighting of the Serpent last year but heavy rains resulted in the whole thing being canceled. This year things were cold but dry at Serpent Mound. The Friends of Serpent Mound celebrate the winter solstice by outlining the mound with luminaries which were all in place by the time we arrived. We even had time to visit the crowded museum and walk around the mound before the lighting started. The second picture was taken facing the serpent's head with the "egg" in its mouth clearly visible. Volunteers started lighting the luminaries shortly after 5:00 and all were glowing before darkness hit and well ahead of the 6:03 EST solstice. As most people know, the winter solstice marks the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. In addition, since the planet's rotation is steadily slowing ever so slightly, each day is just a tiny bit longer than the previous so that this would be the longest night ever experienced on Earth.

Here's another picture of some of the folks who lit the luminaries as well as some who didn't. This particular group of some-who-didn't happens to be my daughter and her family.

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