As the song by James Taylor says, “Summer’s here. I’m for that. Got my rubber sandals, got my straw hat…”. And on it goes, singing the praises of summer.
Yes, it is here. The Summer Solstice officially begins for our part of the world on June 21, 2022, at 5:13 a.m. That is for the Eastern Time Zone.
The sun will rise at 6:08 a.m. and set at 9:08 p.m., give or take a minute, depending on where you stand. The longest day of the year. From here until December 21, the days will get shorter, inch by inch. Of course, you all know that, but I like a refresher course every now and again.
Summer used to be my favorite season of the year, as I love to be warm. But now, it seems that air conditioning has become my evil adversary. If I were a Super Hero — say I was ShifterGirl — my evil nemesis would be Mr. Freeze. All anyone would have to do is lock me in a room with the air conditioning running, and I would be rendered helpless.
I truly have cold intolerance. And the air conditioning is cold.
These days, I think Autumn might be my favorite season. Warmer clothes, indoors and out. Beautiful colors. Soup and crusty bread. But that is a few months off.
For now, it is Summer. Lemonade and hot dogs. Swimming pools. Green grass. Oh, and insects. But we’ll save those biting bugs for another blog.
Summer happens everywhere. In the northern hemisphere of Earth, it comes in June. In the southern parts, it turns up in December.
Yet, the north gets ripped off. We here in the northern hemisphere receive approximately 7% less sunlight during our summer than the southern hemisphere gets during their summer. There is a long-winded explanation of this, but basically, it has to do with the tilt of our axis.
But here is another thing. All the planets in our solar system have summer solstices. On Mars, our nearest neighbor, the solstice occurs in June and happens yearly. On Uranus, the summer solstice comes around once every 84 years. The next one will occur on October 9, 2069. Each season on Uranus lasts 21 years. That is one long season.
For now, we can enjoy all the things summer has to offer. Which is a lot. Everything is alive and blooming and growing. The sun is doing its thing, just as it should. And there is much less time for things to go bump in the night.
And here we are. Right along with everything else under the sun.
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“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
― John Steinbeck
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“Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
― Ray Bradbury
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“Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
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