Slunovrat: The Day the Sun Returns
Slunovrat.
In Czech, it means solstice. But literally, it translates to the turning of the sun. That’s what they taught us in elementary school: twice a year, like clockwork, once in winter, once in summer. The shortest day, the longest day ... and the sun returns.
I remember thinking: Wait, really?
I started breaking the word slun-ovrat apart. Slun[ce] means sun. But what exactly is ovrat? It sounded vaguely Czech, but I’d never heard it used on its own. The only association I had was with ploughs or tractors turning at the edge of a field. A kind of "reversal point."
Was it the same with the sun? Did the sun stop? Turn around? Did it come back to the exact same spot where it rose? Was ovrat a hint at some special solar dynamic that no one had really explained?
I wanted to ask. But I didn’t dare. My geography teacher simply wasn’t the kind of person you’d go to with your solar doubts. Once, she asked me to carry her pen, and I lost it. She called my parents to compensate for it. I think I was just in seventh grade. Still, it didn’t feel safe to ask.
I told myself I’d just wait until the solstice and see for myself. But of course, it was always too far away. And so the question stayed with me. Quiet, unresolved.
A Second Chance
Then came high school. Our geography teacher back then wasn’t the worst, but definitely not the most inspiring. You could feel he was already halfway out the door, more interested in retirement than axial tilts or solar patterns.