June 2021 Solstice

Living plants and animals follow a natural set of rules. Our lives depend on our planet’s relationship to the Sun, the Moon, and the other planets of the Solar System. Ever since the first people, we have configured our lives according to climate and seasonal weather situations.

Depending upon whether we live in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres, the two Solstices visually mark either the longest or shortest days and the shortest and longest nights. The Summer Solstice marks a way-point of the warmer time of year.

Living beings are by and large at our most active and vital stages. Winter Solstice is the midpoint of hibernation and anticipation of nature’s reawakening. It is on the June Solstice that I entertain fantasies of visiting my friends and readers who live south of the Equator. During the December Solstice, I feel most at home in mind and spirit. Since today is June Solstice, this is an occasion of practicing acceptance of life on Earth as it actually occurs in the overall scheme of planetary behavior. After all, without the unique, earthly tilt of our planet’s axis, life would have taken a different evolutionary course.

The Solstices are a time for many of us to contemplate our place on Earth and our Earth’s place in the Universe. The Solstices were recognized by the ancients as holidays that mark rebirth, rest, the evident vitality of life, and the apparent demise of life. They are the extremes of our annual seasonal cycle.

Yesterday, I contemplated the planet Uranus because of its radical axial tilt. Compared to Earth’s 23.5 degree angle, Uranus goes about its existence with a 97.7 degree angle of tilt. Astronomers have calculated that winter there is 42-years long which is followed by 42-years of summer. This fact makes me feel grateful for our much shorter seasons.

Back on Earth, as we listen to songs that praise summer or to “Jingle Bells” we celebrate each Solstice in our cultural and personal ways. I like to consider the Winter Solstice as the time of ending and beginning with its bare trees, and crisp winds as life takes cover. On the other hand, Summer Solstice is the time of beginning and ending, with its full trees and scorching winds as life peaks. What is amazing is that these occur simultaneously depending upon the particular location on Earth we happen to be today.

Meantime, I live in the Great Plains of North America–a place where we experience extremes of both Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice. I believe that living under such extreme variations contributes to better health and longer life. Thankfully, we are able to artificially moderate these conditions by living in enclosed structures. We shelter ourselves from bitter cold of winter, and take shade away from the blowtorch heat of summer.

From my point of view, the processes of acclimation from one to the other has been a boon to my personal health–as long as I take prudent precautions. June Solstice in Nebraska marks the mid-point of the hot season acclimation–the First day of Summer. I love the shade along with the light as the heat continues unabated during the next few months.

Ciao
The Blue Jay of Happiness quotes author and public speaker, Sarah Ban Breathnach. “One way of celebrating the Solstice is to consider it a sacred time of reflection, release, restoration, and renewal.”