Sunday Ramble: Solstice and Summer Memories

Yesterday marked the Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere, and with also the "official" arrival of summer.

Alas, our summer here in western Washington state arrived with yet another rainy day.

Someone has a Weather Underground weather station just up the street from us, and the official volume in the raingauge for the first 20 days of June now stands at 3.97" (101mm) which makes this the wettest June in more than a decade... and we have ten days to go!

Dandelion puff in the evening sun

I wouldn't normally be talking about the weather, but we have a vegetable garden trying to grow, and a lot of the plants are close to drowning... at this point, they need sun and warmth.

I remember being a kid in Denmark and hearing the adults jokingly say things like "Summer fell on a Tuesday!" and not really understanding what they meant.

I sort of "get it," now.

Once school was out, I would often be sent to stay at my auntie's house in the country... which was fine me with me. But as I reflect back on those times from today, I remember that we did spend a lot of time doing jigsaw puzzles in the great living room when those week-long rainy spells came along.

Blue nigella flower

It's funny how — as we age — we spend more and more time reflecting on the past. The olden days weren't necessarily "good," but at least it felt like we had fewer responsibilities... and less debt!

As I close in on my own 60th birthday, I find it almost surreal to think about the fact that "those days" took place almost fifty years ago!

In Denmark, the middle of the summer also meant very long days — as a teenager, I remember riding my bicycle home from friends' houses at midnight, and the sky would still be pink and yellow near the horizon, and the birds would start singing again at 3:00 in the morning.

It's an unusual experience, if you are not accustomed to living a long way north.

Flowers in our garden

We're not as far north where we live now, but I am still looking out at traces of a sunset from my window... after a cloudy day, there is a sliver of clear air on the horizon.

Perhaps summer will actually begin, tomorrow!

Thanks for reading, and here's hoping your weekend was a good one!

What do YOU think? Has summer begun, where you are? Or are you on the opposite side of the planet? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 20200621 21:24 PDT
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