the Way of the Turtle

SUMMER SOLSTICE
Friday, June 20, 2008

The solstices in June and December occur on the dates when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most inclined toward (summer, northern hemisphere) and away (winter, northern hemisphere) from the Sun. In the US we tend to refer to these days as the "first" days of summer and winter, respectively; in England and many European countries they are referred to as midsummer and midwinter. Many cultures have celebrated holidays based around these days, all the way back to pagan celebrations in the pre-Christian times.

My interest in solstices is more practical. Today is the longest day of the year, or rather - the day with the most hours of daylight. After this we start losing a few minutes of daylight each day, until the winter solstice when we start gaining thos minutes back. While I still have a month or so of days when I can head out to run in the late evening without a headlamp... the solstice is an indication that those days are numbered. Sigh.

JMH