Today is the solstice. Earth's axis has tilted 23.45o so that the sun's most direct beams strike Earth at the Tropic of Cancer. The North Pole is pointed inward, toward the center of the solar system, away from the cold, empty void. Days in the northern hemisphere are long.
Summer is finally arrived! Now, we begin the slow decline into darkness.
The spring just passed was rather bleak insofar as we had record-setting rainfall and cool temperatures here in Portland. Oregonians, by necessity, are stalwart in the face of dreary weather, but the climate this spring has tried even the most web-footed among us.
This year, the mercury did not make it to the 80o mark here in Portland until June 9th. That is the latest calendar date for such an event since the American Meteorological Society began keeping track, in 1940. The temperature for the last several days has hovered somewhere around 60o. Already, with 10 days to go, more rain has fallen this year in the two months of May and June than ever before.
Rough sleddin', SADD sufferers!
As much as I try to create my own weather (by being such a "sunny" personality, har, har, har) I am past ready to have some good weather. Cool, overcast days, long though they may be, just don't burn away the vestiges of misty, dreary winter.
Let's hope that, now that summer is here, she will quickly ripen to her full glory and cast her warm, sunny legacy well past the equinox into October.
Stout hearts, people!
Lord, is that a sun break?
Here in Houston for the previous month the dawn low has been 80 degrees, the afternoon highs are in the mid-90's, there's a shortage of rain but it is stiflingly humid. We have actually booked a vacation in Ireland for August to cool down.
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