It’s the longest day for those of us in the southern hemisphere. Today in Sydney we get 14 hours and 25 minutes of daylight.
We had a whopping 9 hours and 29 minutes of daylight in Mechanicsville. Tomorrow we get another minute… YAY!
What is it like having Christmas in midsummer? For me, the holiday season and “winter” (even though we really have about one season here) are completely linked together.
That’s easy to answer TJdude825. Christmas in summer is normal. I can’t really conceive of it any other way.
So does Santa Claus show up on a surfboard, or what?
Happy solstice to all, even us northerners shivering in the dark! (The sun rose at 7:48 today and set at 16:44. That’s a whopping 9 hours of sunlight. Could be worse: we could be living in Helsinki or Dawson (Yukon), which are near the 60th parallel and only got a little more than four hours of sunlight today…
For someone who’s used to Christmas being cold (me), it’s been really hard to get into the spirit. That said, I’ve been enjoying all the “It’s so cold I feel like I’m about to die” threads that have been popping up here (as I sit in front of my computer wearing shorts & a t-shirt) and I’m really looking forward to having a seafood picnic at the beach on Saturday. After having winter-spring-winter this year (we moved here in June), Christmas in 80 degree heat is pretty good.
I do remember one Christmas Day (back in the 1970’s) in Southern California that was 95 degrees F that day…I just got a ten speed bike that day, and I rode that sucker for a good hour and sweated a quite a bit. So, I can kind of relate to what an Aussie Christmas is like at least once.
It’s the shortest day of the year here, but I’ll be home in Australia on Friday for the long days of summer. The best of both worlds!
Seafood, BBQ, Pool, Beer all while sweating your arse off in 38 degree heat is the only way that I have ever known Christmas (well, maybe not beer).
Thursday
Fine. Min 16 Max 34
Friday (Christmas Eve)
Mostly fine - Chance of a shower or two. Min 16 Max 26
Saturday (Christmas Day
Becoming fine. Min 14 Max 22
So it looks like a nice day on Saturday after a scorcher earlier in the week.
I can’t imagine Christmas without being able to take all of your toys and head outside on a nice day to play with them.
Imagine getting a bike (for example) and then not being able to ride it for 3 months because you feared of getting lost in the snow drifts. I can’t.
Also the long days in Summer down here ensure that you can get up early and see everything that’s yours under the tree. You can also stay up later knowing that the sun won’t set for hours after dinner is finished.
Having family and friends over on Christmas day also means that there aren’t 20 people stuck in the house. Some are outside and some are inside. If you want to get away from someone you can always go for a swim. There’s nothing worse that being stuck in a house with 19 other people you don’t want to be with and you can’t get outside.
I love having decorations on the front of the house with snowmen, polar bears, penguins etc, all sweating their little buns off in blistering hot days. I’m so glad they don’t actually melt.
The kids can walk the strees after dark here looking at all of the light displays knowing that they won’t freeze to death.
With kids on summer holidays and a lot of people taking christmas holidays, it also means bliss on the roads without snow, rain or slush to hold the traffic up.
Santa still arrives at our house with a sleigh, but according to Rolf Harris, he comes with 6 white boomers rather than reindeer. The reindeer can’t tolerate the heat.
I love Christmas in the heat. It just wouldn’t be the same with all that yucky white snow and -anything temperatures, although I would love to spend one Christmas Eve / Morning with snow and an open fireplace. Just once to try it out.
GIMME MY DAMN SUN BACK!! YA’ FRICK’N AUSSIE’S!! shakes fist in frustration
ok I feel better now…
Winter Solstice, yeah! I’m expecting sunrise any time now, hopefully before lunch, at then I can look forward to the 15:00 sunset. Wheeeee…
Happy Solstice To All Our Pagan & Wiccan Dopers!
Caught@Work maybe we can have an exchange holiday. See, I’ve always wanted to experience Christmas and New Year’s in the summer. Ok, so it doesn’t snow where I am in the southern USA but it’s cold. That oughta count for something. How bout it? Trade ya my crazy family for yours one year. 
The toys we got for Christmas were very often sleds, ice skates, skis, and snowboards.
Imagine getting a bike and riding it in the snow anyway. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The long nights of Winter mean that it’s dark when you’re trying to sleep. Going to bed early and sleeping late are wonderful in winter. And we do have electric lights here, ya know.
Why do you think Canadians are so polite?
The light displays here are so beautiful in the dark. I’m not big on Christmas, but I do like to put lights up outside, because it is such a dark time of year.
It’s snowing outside my window as I type this, and I can’t imagine it any other way. I would like to try Christmas Eve/Morning with a beach party myself, though, one day.
Heh, heh. heh.
In 1983, I had the extreme good fortune to be in the Land Down Under, specifically Sydney, at Christmastime. I called home on Christmas day and was treated to a litany of woe about the Og-awful freeze that had happened and how the pipes in the attic broke and they had to get the plumber out for outrageous big bucks, etc., etc. I sat there making sympathetic sounds for about ten minutes, then we had this exchange:
Home: “Well, anyway, that’s what’s happening here. What’s going on with you? How’s everything?”
Me: “Well, I got a sunburn this afternoon while I was lying out by the pool.”
<deathly silence for about ten seconds>
Home: “You bastard!”
Ah, man, I miss Australia. I had a great time there.
I was wondering, are there any traditional winter festivals in the southern hemisphere? The only ones I’m familiar with are northern traditions.
I am so freaking excited it’s the solstice. I can’t wait for the days to get longer. The darkness is worse than the cold, imo.
Yeah, but they’re in July 
.
Seriously, there seem to be a lot of outdoor Christmas carol sing-alongs. There was a huge one in Sydney last weekend and we went to a local one last night. It was held in a stadium that was absolutely packed - the stands plus the field. Everyone got a candle and some local & national singers led the crowd in carols. Santa came and all the kids did Beatles-style freakouts at the sight of him. It ended with fireworks. We’re going to another local thing on the waterfront on Christmas Eve. Kiddie activities (I think some type of Wiggle is coming), carols, fireworks.
The weather last night was perfect for an evening outdoors. Clear, mild, light breeze. Aaaaah, the smell of candles and Aerogard on a warm summer night…
As C3 mentioned, carols by candlelight are a big thing in Australia - most local communities hold at least one, and the big ones in Melbourne and Sydney are televised live.
I actually help run one in my local community - basically a stage is set up in a local park, and performers (one of the leading stage performers in Australia, and our church choir and band in my case - others may get local schools involved) sing carols, which people come and sing along to while holding candles (hence the carols by candlelight title). We also do kids rides, free BBQ, pre entertainment bands. The one I help run gets about 4000 - 5000 people each year.
Being so warm, people bring picnics and make a night out of it.
Ah well. That’s the summer solstice over. It’s downhill all the way now.