Winter Solstice 2014

The photo is a near perfect disequilibrium. Imagine the border as a cell wall or impermeable membrane which blocks the mixing and spread of enlightenment. There is an unnatural driving force -- almost like a concentration gradient -- the question is whether lightness or darkness will spread. History knows both.

solstice 

mid-13c., from O.Fr. solstice, from L. solstitium "point at which the sun seems to stand still," from sol "sun" (see sol) + pp. stem of sistere "to come to a stop, make stand still" (see assist).  

The etymology of solstice captures a 13th century optical illusion, when people still thought that the sun moved across the sky each day. It traced a bit higher each day in the summer until the end of June when it appeared to stop and reverse course, tracing lower each day until the end of December when it again stood still and then headed back up. Of course the whole reversible motion is a continuous process, but imagine being the first to figure how things all really worked: eppur si muove