Several dozen hardy folks climbed to the top of Munson Mountain Saturday afternoon to get all festive amidst cool temperatures and a spectacular backdrop of low-hanging clouds.
And it had nothing to do with Christmas.
Instead, the soiree marked the winter solstice - the one day each year when the sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky. It happens every December 21st, the shortest day of the year.
From here on in, the nights get shorter, the days get longer, and we can all look forward once again to the approach of summer.
The tip-top of Munson, with its amazing 360-degree view over the land below, is the obvious spot for the celebration. Nine years ago, members of the Okanagan Astronomical Society of Penticton hauled a group of large stones to the summit, placing them in an array that depicts the spots where the sun sets during the winter and summer solstices and the spring and fall equinoxes.
Leading the group as he's done every year since was retired Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory scientist Chris Purton. Not only is Purton a fine mountaintop instructor, he's also the visionary behind the array now known as "Pen Henge" (a take on Britain's infamous Stonehenge).
But Purton had a little help this year in the form of Penticton resident Sam McNally. McNally plays the French horn for the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra and the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, and Saturday he brought his instrument along with him. And at 3:27 p.m., just as the sun dropped below the western hills, McNally began to play.
It was an ethereal moment in an ethereal place.
"I do think there's something mystical about our celestial body's trip across the sky," said McNally, who was invited to musically mark the occasion by the Astronomical Society.
"The Society wanted something to heighten the experience today, specifically when the sun sets over the local mountains. The reason why it's nice to have music, particularly on a day like this, is you might not be able to see when the sun sets."
McNally played an original piece he'd written a couple days prior. And the song title was almost as long as the composition itself. It was called "Sunset at Munson Mountain on December 21st, 2019 at 3:27 p.m."
Also on hand and chatting with the crowd was the VP of the Okanagan Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Sally Kilburg.
"It's the reason for the season," she said. "It's the reason we have all the big celebrations in the winter time. The yuletide officially begins with the solstice, where the sun, ancient peoples believed, stood still, then went back in the other direction. Even ancient people knew it meant that summer was on its way back again."
"And today while we're enjoying the winter solstice here, in the southern hemisphere they're marking the summer solstice, the longest day of the year."
Kilburg cautioned that daylight will increase only incrementally at first. "We'll gain less than half a minute a day right now. But in March and April, you could even get 10 minutes of extra daylight every day."
Coming dressed for the occasion in his medieval best was Jake Kimberley, grandson of city council member Jake Kimberley.
"Its festive," Kimberley laughed when asked about the getup. "I'm wearing a tree skirt. You put it around the base of a Christmas tree to stop needles from getting on the floor."
Today, Munson is a much quieter place. But the Pen Henge stone array is still there, in plain sight of one of the most magnificent views in the region.
