And it’s going to be a day
Dan Fogelberg
There is really no way to say no
To the morning
I marked the winter solstice — the year’s shortest day — six months ago, and I alluded to the vernal equinox in March. Checking my calendar, I see that today is the summer solstice (aka “the first day of summer”), the most daylight we get all year.
As I said in December, we’re granted 24 hours of existence regardless of what day of the year it is. The only people who take full advantage of the sun are farmers, tradesmen, explorers, Country folks. Everyone else remains enslaved by The Clock, whining that light shines through the bedroom window too early this time of year and grumbling about driving to work in the dark in the winter.
But if we choose to live by nature’s sun and not by man’s clock, June 21st is kind of a big deal.
At December’s solstice, the sun rose over The Mountain at 7:18am and set at 5pm, giving us nine hours and 42 minutes of daylight. Today, sunrise was at 5:55am and sunset will be at 8:33pm — 14 hours and 38 minutes. Do the math.
We opened our eyes this morning to almost five more hours of daylight than we had six months ago. That comes in a season of deep greens rustling under lapis skies, when evenings are warm and vibrant long after dusk.
Yeah, I’ll celebrate that.
I have friends who, believe it or not, choose to see this brightest day as the beginning of the end, as good as it’ll get, a high point after which everything from now ’til the next solstice is depressingly downhill. Whatever — I don’t play that game.
I praise the morning. I bask in evening’s glow. In between, while the sun’s up, I live my best American Life.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB