Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • FUTURES

Solstice

An unusual invitation.
By
  1. John Gilbey

    1. John Gilbey writes from the academic seclusion of the University of Rural England, where they worry an awful lot about this sort of thing. He is still waiting for his invitation, and tweets as @John_Gilbey.

The letter on my desk wasn’t from Human Resources, which was a huge relief, but from the Office of the Vice-Chancellor — inviting me to “The University of Rural England’s Traditional Celebration of the Winter Solstice”. I’d never heard of it, so assumed it must be one of those subtle traditions known only to the cognoscenti. Still, I was intrigued enough to e-mail my RSVP, pin the invitation to the shelf above my desk and blank out the evening of Friday 21 December on my calendar.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 564, 462 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-07808-w

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links