Our suggestions on how to celebrate winter solstice outdoors

Now, when the Northern Hemisphere has leaned as far as it can from the sun, it's tempting to just pull down the shades, pour a drink, fire up Netflix and huddle indoors and spend the longest night of the year dreaming of spring.

But the mental and physical benefits of getting outdoors don't apply only when it's warm and sunny. Besides, if you stay indoors, you'll miss something rare and wonderful, something that won't happen again for hundreds of years.

Here are a few things that might get you away from your screens and out of the house.

If the skies are clear on this Dec. 21, astronomy buffs will be gazing at what they call the best Great Conjunction in nearly 800 years.

A Great Conjunction is when the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn appear extremely close together in the sky from our perspective here on Earth.

On the solstice, the two planets will swim so closely together that they may appear as a single star to the naked eye. The last time the two planets were so closely aligned was 1623, and the last time the pairing was so easily viewable in the night sky was in 1226.

The rare and historic alignment of the two planets, which some suggest produced the star of Bethlehem, is easy to see, even for the most casual star gazer.

You don't need to stay up late or drive to a remote place in the country. Just head outside shortly after sunset and look up into the southwestern sky. Not too far up from the horizon, you should see the two planets close together, shining brightly.

"You can just go out with your friends or family to a park or on the driveway," said Suresh Sreenivasan, a member of the Minnesota Astronomical Society.

Binoculars will help, and a telescope will help even more. But they aren't necessary, Sreenivasan said.

Jupiter will be the one shining with a white light, while the more distant Saturn will have a creamy, yellow golden glow.

Even if it's overcast on the solstice, you should be able to see the two planets as they slowly pull apart to the end of the month.

So go outside and look up. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime pairing!" Sreenivasan said.

We've had little snowfall so far in the Twin Cities, but you can still cross-country ski thanks to the snow-making operations by the Loppet Foundation at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.

The foundation has groomed a 1.5-kilometer loop this month starting at the Trailhead building. The trails are open and lighted from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. and require a ski pass ($20 for a daily pass for adults, $90 for a season).

The foundation is also offering ski rentals and private lessons to individuals and households. Social distancing and mask wearing is encouraged on the trails.

Cross-country skiing on man-made snow is also available at Three Rivers Park District's Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove and the Hyland Lake Park Reserve in Bloomington. You'll need a $9 day pass or a $75 annual pass to ski.

Relatively mild temperatures this month may increase the chance of finding open water and that's good for winter bird-watching, according to birding expert Sharon "Birdchick" Stiteler.

Look for eagles and waterfowl along the Mississippi, Stiteler suggested.

This also is a good time to listen for owls after dark, like the great horned owl, an early nester that may be duet hooting as part of its courtship.

Some good birding hot spots this time of year include the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge over Long Meadow Lake in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington.

Stiteler also suggests the Sax-Zim Bog between Duluth and Hibbing, a national birding destination and a winter habitat for birds like the great gray owl, the pine grosbeak and the hoary redpoll.

You could just go out for your daily jog around the lake. Or you could join with hundreds of people in other countries on a do-it-yourself Solstice Run.

That's the idea behind solstice-run.com, a website where you can share results and photos of your own personal race of your choice — 5K, half-marathon, marathon, whatever — with people around the world who will be doing the same thing on the same day.

You can run it, walk it or hike it and recruit friends to join with you.

It's free to register although organizers hope you will consider using your run to raise money for UNICEF or the American Red Cross.

Richard Chin • 612-673-1775