Summer Solstice 2012

(4 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

We are halfway through the year and are ready to celebrate the first harvest amidst climate disruption, natural disasters compounded by man’s foolish idea that he could harness the devil. I spent some time this morning weeding my herb garden, snipping the flower buds from the huge pot of sweet basil so the energy goes to the flavorful leaves and a short walk on the beach. Tomorrow morning I will watch the sun rise for the last few hours of Spring and later watch it set on the first few hours of Summer which ushers in at 7:09 PM EDT as the Earth tilts towards the sun at its Northern maximum, the Tropic of Cancer. It is a but a moment in time significant for so many cultures, religions and countries. Here in the US there are many cities that will light huge fires in public places to celebrate the longest day of the year, Midsummer. The fires will be lit in the stone fire pit in my yard. We’ll eat some of the newly harvested vegetable that are available at the local markets and eat food cooked with the herbs from my garden.

A Solstice Approaches, Unnoticed By James Caroll

ONCE, HUMANS were intimate with the cycles of nature, and never more than on the summer solstice. Vestiges of such awareness survive in White Nights and Midnight Sun festivals in far northern climes, and in neo-pagan adaptations of Midsummer celebrations, but contemporary people take little notice of the sun reaching its far point on the horizon. Tomorrow is the longest day of the year, the official start of the summer season, the fullest of light – yet we are apt to miss this phenomenon of Earth’s axial tilt, as we miss so much of what the natural world does in our surrounds.

In recent months, catastrophic weather events have dominated headlines as rarely before – earthquakes and tsunami in Asia; volcanic cloud in Europe; massive ice melts at the poles; tornadoes, floods, and fires in America. “Records are not just broken,” an atmospheric scientist said last week, “they are smashed.” Without getting into questions of causality, and without anthropomorphizing nature, we can still take these events as nature’s cri de coeur – as the degraded environment’s grabbing of human lapels to say, “Pay attention!”

2 comments

    • TMC on June 20, 2012 at 13:33
      Author
    • RUKind on June 21, 2012 at 04:48

    Had some of the third cutting tonight. That means if well managed, we might have a four full-head harvest season. No big deal. Right.

    Had fresh cut cauliflower that’s been waiting for a few weeks now.

    The first pass of all the greens has gone by. That could have been a mid-March to late October procession. Probably will be if I can get my ass in fast enough gear. The snap peas have snapped for round 1; expect 2 more.

    Iet’s been the weirdest winter-spring I’ve seen for warmth. Last yar we had continuous snow cover of a foot until one day it was gone and the ground was beautifully workable from that day. Nothing like a four month 32 degree blanket.

    I still have 11 fallow 4′ x 8′ raised beds. It’s a roll of the dice as to what goes in them with this weather.

    This is definitely a different season. Maybe I’ll cull the remaining farm and garden shops for sales and see what eclectic mix arises.

    Wish me luck.

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