Today is the shortest day of the year (!)

HALLELUJAH, today is the winter solstice! Which means that every day for the next six months will be longer than the day before it. Which means that as of tomorrow, the worst of the winter (light-wise) will be behind us. If you know me you know this is a huge cause for celebration. I'm a California girl with Seasonal Affective Disorder who's living in London and let's just say the winter is a bit of a struggle.In honor of longer, brighter, happier days ahead, here are a few photos of London in the snow. We don't actually have much on the ground here, but airports are closing, flights are cancelled, and most of Europe is pretty well locked up--has been for several days and is likely to continue past Christmas. And it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. Lefteris and I were planning a sunny Christmas in the south of Spain, driving to Gibraltar and Portugal as well, but getting out of town is looking sketchy. But then again, worst case scenario is that we're together and at home, so really that's not so bad!I was home sick all last week but snuck out for a few minutes to take these right around our flat in Islington.Looking up through the window well in our (basement) flat.Chairs outside of the French cafe around the corner...We live across from a small park, where there was holly growing in the snow...so very Christmasy...This is across from the Italian cafe around the corner. It's funny, I don't know the name of either cafe--we just refer to them that way (the French place/the Italian place). They're both so what they are. These were all shot in the middle of the day--maybe around 2pm--and look how low the sun is in the sky! Again: HURRAY for the solstice.Back in the park, a pigeon and a shaft of light cooperated with a bench...I thought these benches were really graphic and interesting. I suppose they always are, but snow has a way of making one look at things in a new way, right? I liked that second angle so much that I stood behind a tree and waited for people to pass by and cast shadows. A dog showed up! (Happy dog playing fetch in the snow!)I saw another beam of light on the other side of the park, but this one must have been somehow reflected off of something as it was hitting a bus that was otherwise in the shade of the building. As I got closer I saw the people in the phone booth--the red, and the faces (in the booth and on the bus) were compelling for sure! I just wish this had been a classic red British phone booth.I was just about to go home when I saw this interesting shadow on a wall. Since the sun was low, the shadows were tall, which meant that the street lamp shadow almost looked like an actual street lamp. That seemed kind of neat (plus the bright blue door) and as I was setting up, these guys walked by, totally making this shot for me. Round hat on the guy by the lamp, square hat on the guy by the door/shadow...yay.