Summer Solstice

The summer Solstice is today, June 21st. Actually, it was at 4:24AM this morning. Here in the DC area, this longest day of the year stretches almost fifteen hours between sunrise and sunset. While it marks the official start of summer, I always feel a touch of sadness as well. A wistful emotion that is silly, and yet… 

… I can’t avoid it. I know the long march to winter has started. 

Sure, summer really started Memorial Day weekend, but the Solstice is the official crown. For some, it is a mystical or spiritual day—the stuff of poets and dreamers. I get all of that, and I appreciate it. But I also always think, “Yea, this is the peak. And now, every single day until the Winter Solstice is getting shorter.”

I know it’s stupid. It’s not even the 4th of July. We have all of July and August stretching out in front of us. Cookouts, vacations, trips to the beach, lightning bugs, cicadas, and warm nights. Fireworks, burgers in the backyard, ice cream, and an ice-cold beer after mowing the lawn. It is all coming, all there to be had. Still, that niggling thought stays right there in the back of my brain.

I chuckle at myself and think, “Hall, you doofus. Stop it. Enjoy this summer and get on with it.”

And the thought drifts away. I do get on with it. 

But I also know next June, the thought will return right on cue. Winter is coming. That is OK. For now, I am going to enjoy the sunshine on the longest day of the year. Later, our friends Janet and Mike are coming over for a dinner of grilled cheeseburgers and potato salad to celebrate the Solstice. I hope you find a way to celebrate as well.