Arboretum walk celebrates winter solstice

As the shortest day of the year marks the beginning of a slow climb out of seasonal darkness, trees take on a poetic, shadowy beauty.

To celebrate nature's splendor and the gradual return of longer days, this Saturday's winter solstice will be heralded at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle with an informative walk.

"It's fun to be out there. You see the long shadows," said Mary Samerdyke, coordinator of docent and tram interpreters.

Samerdyke supervises a team of volunteers who will lead the hike, which will begin at 4 p.m., just 23 minutes before the sun is expected to set.

This time of year, when the earth's Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, Illinois residents get only slightly more than nine hours of daylight per day. Samerdyke said Saturday's daylight will linger for 9 hours, 7 minutes and 58 seconds.

"We'll be out there for sunset on the shortest day of the year," Samerdyke said. "You can really see the silhouettes of the trees."

Visitors will splinter into four groups, each visiting one of four stations in turn.

The first station includes a lesson in how holly, ivy and mistletoe became associated with the winter season.

At the second station, walkers will learn the astronomical details about the earth's rotation on its axis and the angle of its tilt as it orbits the sun.

"We have a little exercise we ask people to do," Samerdyke said. Visitors will note the location of the sun in relation to the horizon by looking and pointing, she said.

"(The sun is) actually higher in the sky in the summer," she said.

Walkers at the third station will hear about how other cultures, such as Cherokee tribes, welcome the winter solstice.

Samerdyke said visitors will examine and enter a sculpture made of saplings and twigs by artist Patrick Dougherty. Titled "Xanadu," the piece is reminiscent of rooms known as "kivas," built by Hopi and Pueblo Indians for spiritual ceremonies.

At the fourth station, walkers will visit a fir tree.

Samerdyke said visitors will learn about a Germanic tradition that involved honoring the goddess, Hertha, by building an altar and lighting boughs of the tree "so she would appear in the smoke."

Then the four groups will rejoin.

"Then we do a little ceremony to bring the sun," Samerdyke said. "That is pretty much every culture's tradition."

Samerdyke said the walk is about a mile over paved and unpaved terrain and takes about an hour. If dangerous weather looms, the walk will be canceled and a nature lesson will be offered indoors, she said.

If you go What: Winter Solstice Walk Where: Morton Arboretum, 4100 Route 53, Lisle

When: 4 p.m. Saturday

Cost: Free with museum admission; $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for ages 3-17 Info: (630) 968-0074 or www.mortonarb.org