Winter solstice: Perspective | Winter solstice: There's beauty in the darkest day of the …

(Chasingmailboxes/Flickr)There’s something enchanting about the winter solstice, which arrives this weekend and marks our longest night of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere.

This year’s winter solstice occurs at 11:19 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, and rather fittingly, it will be dark across most of the Northern Hemisphere at that time.

Even before the winter solstice on Saturday, we could already observe the seasonal pendulum swinging toward brighter days.

Sunset in D.C. on the winter solstice is about three to four minutes later than it was in early December.

The winter solstice may be our darkest and longest night of the year, but its arrival should make us appreciate the changing seasons and the sun’s slowly returning light.