21 July 2026

One Month Past the Dark

A quick update on the thing we wrote about a month ago — the days are lengthening, if you squint.

A month ago we wrote about the winter solstice — the shortest day of the year, and the point after which every day gets very slightly longer again. Today's the one-month mark, so here's the update nobody asked for: it's working.

How much longer, actually

Not dramatically — the change right after a solstice is always the slowest part of the whole yearly swing, which is more or less the definition of a solstice. But it's real. Compare today's sunset to the 21st of June and you'd notice the difference side by side, even though day to day it's invisible.

Why it still feels like the middle of winter

Temperature lags behind daylight by weeks, sometimes longer. The days are objectively getting longer, but the cold hasn't caught up to that news yet, and won't for a while. So it still feels like deep winter, because in every way that actually affects how a house feels, it still is.

No particular lesson here

Just a small, factual thing worth noticing: the worst of the dark is already behind us, even on a week that doesn't feel like it. We'll take small, factual good news where we can get it, mid-July.

More from the journal

Flipping the ReedsHow often to turn them, and why doing it constantly is the fastest way to waste a bottle. Eight Scents, Two FamiliesThe range doubled without doubling. How the two halves relate, and how to pick across them. On Women's Day9 August marks the 1956 march to the Union Buildings. A note on what the day actually commemorates. Where to Put a DiffuserPlacement does more for a diffuser than anything else you can control.