Solstice pondering

Today is the day of the Winter Solstice, the day that brings us the shortest amount of light. My calendar says that today is the first day of winter, yet in other countries in the northern hemisphere today is known as Midwinter's Day.

So which is it? Start or middle? For my winter sanity, I think I'll adopt the Midwinter's Day designation. The days will (very slowly) start to lengthen by gathering minutes of sunshine, and although we still have a couple of months of cold ahead of us, I will hold the thought that as the days get longer, spring will be creeping closer.