June 20

We had a beautiful sunrise this morning marking the longest day of the year, our summer solstice. Seen from the top of the small hill that fronts Anna Maria College, the sun crested the eastern trees at roughly 5:20 am and at 78 degrees or 12 degrees north of east, according to my compass. From here onward until December, the sun will slowly begin its southward march, rising a fraction of a degree closer to south each day. Its best not to contemplate December just now, when the daylight is long and warm and life giving. It is a time to celebrate, as has been done for generations, that growing is upon us, the harvest is around the corner, and the darkness and cold are fully at bay.

We are not really “closer to the sun,” as is so often misconceived, though logic could lead to this false conclusion. It is true that technically our present inclination puts the northern hemisphere several hundred miles closer to the sun, but this is inconsequential compared to 93 million miles that separate us from each other. It is the directness of the incoming rays that determine our seasonal warmth, indirectly speaking!

Ironically, the Earth’s orbit is elliptical, albeit slightly, with the sun at one foci and the Earth in orbit around it. Presently the Earth is at the farthest point, or apogee in the orbit, making our North American summer coincide when we are most distant from the sun.

Regardless, we march along adding one day after another, shifting on the axis that balances our daily whirl, moving round and round in orbits and in circles of life and death, season into season.

Celebrate this.

The sun set today at 314 degrees just at 8:20 pm, a beautiful orange yellow glow that settled below the field to the west between the spruce line across the road.