midwinter

At Stonehenge, the reasoning is that a midwinter, inter-tribal celebration brought neighbouring tribes together at a time when they were not planting, harvesting, or warring.

I was particularly interested to learn that the focus of that famous site was Midwinter not the Summer Solstice.

It's a two hour midwinter handicap race with over 300 boats entered.

This date was also useful because it aligned with existing Roman festivals: Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Unocnquered Sun) and close to Saturnalia (a popular midwinter festival).

So as interesting, as I find these ideas, as a homeowner, I would not want to have to switch heating during midwinter because the cloud provider goes down the drain.

If we see diversity and individual creativity (ordering midwinter delivery, building a freezer, barricading the door, planting a garden), it is planning ahead, on top of a simpler instinct.

There are places where solar is less than helpful -- up here in Scotland, we're north of Moscow: in midwinter we get as little as 4.5 hours of daylight every 24 hours (6 hours here in Edinburgh, in the south).

:) * Probably not applicable to you, but when they need to move heavy things (Backhoe to dredge the dock, materials, etc.) to the island, they drive them in over the frozen lake in midwinter.

(All hobbit months had 30 days, with some extra "holiday" dates stuck in between months at midsummer and midwinter.

Then go to Midwinter, the home of The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5, and prepare to be absorbed for days.