Well folks, we interrupt our regular blog schedule to bring you an important bulletin.
HAPPY SOLSTICE! HAPPY SUMMER!
What a special day.
(And a complicated one, too. Here’s some of the science explaining why the earliest Sunrise and Sunset don’t exactly line up: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/equation-of-time.html) This always makes my head hurt.
Uh, where was I?
Right! I took a walk last night, and was tempted to call everyone and say “HEY, GET OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW AND LOOK AT THE FIREFLIES!”
Fortunately for everyone, I didn’t have my phone with me.
It was as if they knew it was a special day that would soon dawn after that short night. They danced and sparkled in the trees by the creek. A multitude of lights glittered, some high in the branches, some down by the cool grass. Others lurked deeper in the woods, or gently drifted towards the laughing brook. An unseen creature padded on four legs through the brambles, and I stood, transfixed by the shimmers.
The air was faintly sweet, and refreshed my computerized face, reminding me of what was Real. Solstice was tomorrow, and a thousand bits of living lightning warmed up the crowd, silently.
I’ve stood in suit and tie before, humbled by a performance of Rachmaninoff, clapping in a stupor, glad I could even be in the presence of something so special. This was a similar feeling.
And so, your PSA today, folks: go find something to marvel at. If the clouds let up where you are, notice the shortest shadows of the year at high noon. Go watch some fireflies, or otherwise commemorate the occasion. Even the “dullest” of suburban scenes take on a new light when observed to be part of the grand astronomical dance. Shopping carts left idly in the parking lot cast short shadows today, too.
What a world.
Happy Solstice!