Today, Tuesday, June 21st, is the Summer Solstice.
Just what, precisely, does that mean?
In a few words: it is the longest day of the year in terms of daylight.
From this day forward, the amount of light per day will diminish towards Fall and then Winter.
I love every season with the very specific exception of Summer.
Summer, to me, means agonizing heat, some humidity, clogged roadways (in my case, up I-80), melanoma, carcinoma, my cancerous past, screaming kids, bawling infants, skyrocketing gas prices, rude vacationers, and long days to cover my fellow supervisors and deputies who customarily take the bulk of their time-off in this period.
Which is why, when I vacation, I do so in late October, December, January and February. When the fewest number of persons are on the roads or in hotels or in my way. And — oddly enough — hotel/motel rates are at their lowest. Imagine that.
I enjoy the rain, the fog, the snow, the cold, the sleet, the massive waves at the ocean, the horizontal snowstorms in the Sierras, the lack of people to mar my view of nature.
Predominantly, I hate people. If you vacation in Summer I likely hate you. I avoid you like the plague. You can deal with your fellow mindless locusts buzzing about with your ilk and kids. You can clean up your kids’ vomit and snot. Leave the booth at the restaurant as though a war was fought there — that’s how inconsiderate you are. Bring your squalling horde of infants to the movie, dining place, outdoor venue I’d like to otherwise enjoy with my wife.
You can keep Summer. I stay at home and I work in the shade.
Which is why I can’t wait for the Summer Solstice to subsume and grow smaller. Which means: people will be, by-and-by, going away.
This always makes me smile. It’s all downhill from here.
BZ
P.S.
| Year | Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | June 21, 01:48 | December 21, 13:37 |
| 2001 | June 21, 07:38 | December 21, 19:21 |
| 2002 | June 21, 13:24 | December 22, 01:14 |
| 2003 | June 21, 19:10 | December 22, 07:04 |
| 2004 | June 21, 00:57 | December 21, 12:42 |
| 2005 | June 21, 06:46 | December 21, 18:35 |
| 2006 | June 21, 12:26 | December 22, 00:22 |
| 2007 | June 21, 18:06 | December 22, 06:08 |
| 2008 | June 20, 23:59 | December 21, 12:04 |
| 2009 | June 21, 05:46 | December 21, 17:47 |
| 2010 | June 21, 11:28 | December 21, 23:38 |
| 2011 | June 21, 17:16 | December 22, 05:30 |
| 2012 | June 20, 23:09 | December 21, 11:12 |
| 2013 | June 21, 05:04 | December 21, 17:11 |
| 2014 | June 21, 10:51 | December 21, 23:03 |
| 2015 | June 21, 16:38 | December 22, 04:48 |
| 2016 | June 20, 22:34 | December 21, 10:44 |
| 2017 | June 21, 04:24 | December 21, 16:28 |
| 2018 | June 21, 10:07 | December 21, 22:23 |
| 2019 | June 21, 15:54 | December 22, 04:19 |
| 2020 | June 20, 21:44 | December 21, 10:02 |
We had 3″ of snow on the Divide last night. Always fun to see the tourists in their shorts and T Shirts “enjoying” a Colorado summer.
I also enjoy that. But, unless the drifts are over my head, I customarily wear shorts anyway. Cold, to me, beGINS at 20+ below.
Then that’s kinda/sorta cold.
Not quite there, but a good start.
BZ
You and I bro are kin. I hate summer ( In my youth I loved it) In my youth it meant beach trips, hot chicks in bikini’s, day long golf, river rafting, and beer drinkin/hell raising. Now it means as you said.
We try to do our vacations around the crowds. My favorite time of year is fall/winter, spring is okay but because it’s followed by summer it’s like waiting for surgery….you know what’s coming.
earth was weird.. so,… let save the earth…Summer Solstice Shifting Spring
Not a bad way to look at it 🙂 I usually take at least some vacation in Oct and Feb…
Yeah, and so where the hell do we both live? That’s right, in the south and north valleys where temperatures in Summer normally exceed 100-degrees!
Atrios: yes, that’s correct, whilst it’s the longest day in the northern hemi, it’s the shortest day in the southern.
NFO: I’m just not a fan of Summer; apparently you aren’t quite so much in terms of vacations, either.
BZ