The Winter Solstice Approaches

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Welcome. Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend in the United States; clocks move ahead one hour on Sunday. For some of us, “springing forward” is an obvious metaphor: Later sunsets mean more light, more hope. We have some ideas for how to inhabit these brighter evenings : Consider plogging, the Swedish practice of jogging and picking up trash. Cook dinner outside. Watch the sunset. Be a tourist in your own town.

Then set your sights farther afield: Take a virtual trip to Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories and home to Indigenous peoples of many cultures and languages. It’s a popular tourist destination for viewing the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.

Looking ahead to the summer, fall or beyond, you might start planning an actual trip to a national park — though Covid safety measures are still making things a little tricky. See how tourist destinations around the world have adapted this year . Or explore Slow TV Map , a mesmerizing site where you can pick a location from a world map and then select a means of traversing it (by bike, boat, plane, train, car or foot).

Top 5

Jason Farago is a critic at large for The Times. These are his top 5 metro stations in Paris.

I miss the Métro; I miss the steady hum of the driverless 1 train, and the gray tickets I use as bookmarks; I miss these five stations in particular.

1. Arts et Métiers. In the northern reaches of the Marais, serving Paris’s applied arts museum, this station offers a fantasy of Parisian industry — platforms enrobed with arcing copper panels , kitted out with portholes, topped with giant gears. Steampunk of a more chic variety; imagine a submarine converted for a Chanel runway show.

2. Gare de Lyon. Upstairs at this station are the TGV bullet trains and the Art Nouveau brasserie that La Femme Nikita shot up . Downstairs, on the platforms of the zippy Line 14, are hundreds of palm fronds, banana leaves, and other towering tropical plants. Always a welcome burst of green amid Paris’s perpetual gray skies — and not bad for the air quality, either.

3. Saint-Georges. The sidewalks of this plaza in the gentrifying 9th arrondissement aren’t wide enough for a freestanding entrance, so this station is accessed through a cunning curved passageway, slicing into the garden of a swank 19th-century hôtel particulier. The only thing better than its wrought-iron entrance is the steak tartare around the corner, at my beloved bistro Le Bon Georges. (The beef’s from Lorraine, and dry-aged. No egg. )

4. Bir-Hakeim. This station is one of the closest to the Eiffel Tower; I don’t miss the crowds. (Take your pictures, nothing wrong with that, but don’t spend the whole day! You’re right near the Musée du Quai Branly!) But it’s always a treat to speed past the tower as you enter this aboveground, Seine-side train shed , decorated with glistering abstract stained-glass works by the American artist Judy Ledgerwood.

5. Bastille. Your train carriage is crammed, you want to smack that busking accordionist — but a moment of relief comes as you round the corner here, pulling out from the tunnel into the light of day. You catch a glimpse of the monumental column commemorating the 1830 revolution; then, like a mirage, you see the boat basin called the Port de l’Arsenal, dredged after the Bastille prison fell. For the half-million daily riders on Line 1, this is the view to remind you: Paris has still got it.

If you want to make a quick trip to Paris underground, have a listen to “ Paris Mon Amour ,” by the rapper Swift Guad — dozens of filthy, untranslatable Métro puns, but the flow is universal.

P.S.

• Spend some time with 75 artists — including the novelist Tayari Jones, the playwright and actor Tracy Letts and the artist Farah al Qasimi — and see how their work has been going over the past year.

• The Oscar nominations are coming next week. Here’s what to expect .

• Plus, The Grammys are on Sunday . “ My So-Called Life ” is now streaming on Hulu. And the writer Jo Ann Beard has revealed what books are on her nightstand (She has a new book of essays coming next week; if you’ve never read her 1998 collection “ The Boys of My Youth ,” now’s the perfect time.) It’s going to be a busy weekend.

Tell us.

If you’re getting an extra hour of daylight, how will you use it? What warmer-weather, longer-day activities are you eager to take part in? Write to us: athome@nytimes.com . Include your name, age and location. We’re At Home . We’ll read every letter sent. More ideas for passing the time appear below. See you next week.

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Source : food