Solsticio De Invierno

Poca Muñeca was on stage again today. This time it was as la Pastora in the school nativity. I translated from the Spanish as best I could.

Angel Carmen: Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news. Tonight, in Bethlehem, a baby has been born who will be the saviour of the world. You will find him in a stable, under a bright star.
Pastor 2: Okay, let's go find the new baby.
Pastora 3: Hey, what are we gonna do with all the sheep?
Pastor 1: I don't know. We'd better take them with us.
Pastor 2: What all one hundred and fifty eight and a half of them?
Pastora 3: And a half? Are you sure you counted them right?
Angel Carmen: So the shepherds set off to Bethlehem, with their 158.5 sheep. It didn't take them long to find the baby because there was a bright star above the stable, showing them the way.

Today was also winter solstice. Yippee the days start getting longer. More time to sun myself on the terraces.

Factoid: As the Earth travels around the Sun in its orbit, the north-south position of the Sun changes over the course of the year due to the changing orientation of the Earth's tilted rotation axes with respect to the Sun. In the northern hemisphere, the Winter solstice is day of the year when the Sun is farthest south. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, respectively, in the sense that the length of time elapsed between sunrise and sunset on this day is a minimum for the year.

In Spain there is one tradition, not at all common elsewhere. The tradition of making "Hogueras" (bonfires) originated long before Christmas itself. It is connected to the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter. It is characterized by people jumping over fires as a symbolic protection against illness. This fire-jumping can be seen primarily in Granada and Jaen.