Beech Tree News Network

John Kennedy said, “I read a lot. I enjoy reading a lot.” Recently, our winter days have kept me inside, and I’ve been reading, too. Some of the topics I’ve read about include longer days, pancakes, and corduroy. First, curiosity caused me to search for information on the Internet about the lengthening spring days. I found the length of daylight on the winter solstice is about 7 hours, 14 minutes. Then the days begin getting longer. By New Year’s Day, daylight increases to 9 hours and 15 minutes. By mid-January, the increase jumps to about two more minutes per day, and by February 20, the increase speeds up to three minutes per day. That increase will slow down again to about two minutes a day by late April to early May. The summer solstice daylight (June 20, 2024) is about five hours and 20 minutes longer than the December solstice. Although I understood this concept, I didn’t realize that the increasing daylight is so varied (speed up, slow down, and speed up). The complexity made me remember Genesis 1:4 (NIV): “God saw that the light was good….”

Second, occasionally, after the 10 PM news and before I get sleepy, I will search for a recipe for whatever comes to mind. One evening I realized I have never made pancakes totally from scratch, so I did an online recipe search. I found a simple recipe and as a test, made pancakes the next morning. The pancakes were good, but the syrup was a little off. I didn’t have pancake syrup (I don’t make pancakes very often.), so I used the Karo syrup I had. And, yes, pancake syrup was added to the grocery list. Charles Spurgeon made a good point when he said, “There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes.” Pancakes are part of the “good stuff.”

Third, my great grandson has a book entitled Corduroy by Don Freeman. It’s the story of a toy bear, Corduroy, in green overalls who lives in a department store but wishes for a real home. Reading this book to him caused me to think of corduroy fabric. During winter months, corduroy fabric provides extra warmth. I like wearing corduroy pants during the winter. Corduroy is comforting and reminds me of my childhood.

Author Paul Theroux said, “Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” For me, it’s a time to read about such things as longer days, pancakes, and corduroy. And reading time provides a form of rest and recovery.