Notes on the Summer Solstice

As I write this, the latest sunset of the year is in store. June 21st. It's about a few minutes before 8 o'clock, and fitting for such a day of natural significance, it's been a long one. In a good way. Morning brought hope with cool temperatures and friendly Dunkin' Donuts employees, while the afternoon was dragged down into the ditch of scattered showers and humidity (the whole week cloudy) until one of those beautiful cold fronts, straight from Canada's door to New England's, swept across the land.

These cold front tend to wipe your mind of any illusions you were under, as the spell low clouds and wet air vanish, somewhere. The clear, cooler summer nights and days allow us to see deep into the sky- powder blue in the day- dark with lit stars at night. Something about the fog lifting clears our heads, as if nature itself was suggesting we use it as a metaphor. We're encouraged to look far away, to see our place in the world, unhindered by low clouds, fog, and rain.

Weather is what binds us all together. It is something we collectively have no control over, even if we do try to fight it with sweatshirts, air conditioners, fans, gloves, and mittens, we all know at the end of the day we are at its mercy and grace. It is no wonder discussion of the weather often constitutes small talk. Embedded in those conversations is a mutual understanding that we are all in this together, experiencing the same natural events through different prisms.

When it goes, where does the weather "go"? A good question that is best left to science. Even when the rain and humidity leave, we all know it will be back again, just as even now, under a beautiful partly cloudy June sky with a touch of summer coolness in the air (my favorite), we instinctively know that our comfort is fleeting. Everything is temporary- changing- staying the same- but never in the exact same way, like a live song recorded on two different nights, or a snowflake. So tonight, I will enjoy the late sunset, the clear air. It will change, but for now, it is like grace- something we are freely afforded, and not sure if we deserve.