Winter Solstice Is Today, Dec. 21: Shortest Day of the Year

A couple stops to catch the sunset through environmental artist Baile Oakes’ Gestation II.  Installed in 1991 in Palisades Park just north of Montana Avenue, the cedar wood sculpture is kind of a Stonehenge West.  Its celestial alignment frames the sunset squarely on the winter solstice, today,  Wednesday, December 21, the shortest day of the  year. From now on, the days will grow longer,  “marking the return of the life giving Sun” in the words of the artist. The sculpture is dedicated to “all who work to heal the planet.”