Solstice, Last Light

One of the coolest things about working at Penn State is the nice, long break we get around the December holidays. We get six holidays for Christmas and one for New Year's, so I am free from work for the better part of a week and a half. If you add a day or two of vacation on either end, you can easily turn it into two full weeks.

I've worked at Penn State for a lot of years, and my husband (who retired from his job a year ago this past summer) has been trying to talk me into retiring also. I have to admit that I do have a fantasy where some year, I do not actually return from the holiday break.

In September 2016, I'll have 30 years in full-time. When I started working there, I never would have thought I'd make it this long! I promise to return this coming January from one more Christmas break. After that, all bets are off; I will give consideration to each year as it comes.

I typically work at home on Mondays, but I switched my week around so that I could work Wednesday, my last official work day of the year, from home. It seemed like a nice, low-key way to start the long slide into the holiday break. This meant I was in the office Monday and Tuesday.

Monday was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that it was weird being in the office on a day when I'm not usually there. And yes, once again, I gained a full respect for those who hate Mondays, which I usually don't. Getting up and going to work Monday morning can be pretty shocking; were weekends always this short?

So it was that Tuesday was my last working day in the office. And something odd happened. Around noon, we received an email from one of the higher-ups, telling us that in response to a potential security threat, the doors to the Outreach building (where I work) and 329 building were being locked. No one could enter without a key.

Now, this was alarming news, especially to a few of us who have been through this sort of thing before. In all the years I've worked at Penn State, only twice was the building I worked in locked down; both times, someone actually died. As a personal reflection, I thought how stupid I would feel if I were killed on my last day in the office before the holiday break; possibly even my last holiday break EVER. Man, would I be bummed!

The specifics of the potential threat were never shared. But by mid-afternoon, an email came out stating that Police Services had investigated the incident (yes, there is a process for this sort of thing), and they deemed the threat to be an extremely low probability. Our doors remained locked for the rest of the day, however.

It had been raining heavily all morning, but by shortly after noon, the sky started to break for intermittent clearing. I left work a tiny bit early at the end of the afternoon to run some errands, including doing some last-minute Christmas shopping, and then picking up some cheesesteaks for a little treat for my husband and myself for dinner.

As I got in my car at the parking lot at C.C. Pepper's near the North Atherton WalMart, I couldn't help noticing the sky show. The clouds were turning very dramatic, and I hoped I'd be able to catch a few shots of what was promising to be an amazing sunset.

I was very, very lucky. I drove by Gray's Cemetery just as the sun was setting, and I pulled the car in to get a few shots. I stood there for probably five minutes or so, watching the clouds change and the sun sink lower and lower through the pretty little gazebo. You can find one more picture in the extra photos area.

The light was ending on the shortest day of the year, and it seemed fitting that I - a lover of the light - was there to bear witness. The last light of the sun set the remaining storm clouds glowing bright pink, and then that beloved orb turned into a molten ball of fire and sunk down quietly into the horizon. Farewell, farewell to the light!

The song to accompany this image is Gordon Lightfoot, Song for a Winter's Night.