Today is the winter solstice. The sun rose later this morning and will set earlier this evening than on any other day in 2026 — the shortest stretch of daylight of the whole year, and, from here, the longest night.
It's also Father's Day, which this year happens to land on exactly the same date. We didn't plan that. The calendar did it on its own, and it's a nice coincidence to sit with.
There's something quietly fitting about the two arriving together. The solstice marks the day the dark wins by the biggest margin it's going to get — and from tomorrow, every day gets very slightly longer again. Fathers, at their best, do a version of the same thing: they show up during the longest, darkest stretch and make it feel more manageable than it actually is, usually without saying much about it at all.
We won't stretch that further than it wants to go.
If you're marking the day with someone, light something. A candle doesn't fix a short winter day, but it does the next best thing — it gives the dark something to push against, in the room you're actually sitting in, tonight.
From tomorrow, the days start pulling back toward summer. Tonight, though, is the one to sit with the lights low and let it be what it is.