Enjoy the Summer Solstice, June 21st

In three days we will celebrate the Summer Solstice. What this means to you and me is that at 5:13 a.m. on Tuesday we will officially begin the longest day of our year. So what is a solstice? So the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is when the earth’s axis is tilted most closely to the sun, resulting in the longest amount of daylight and the official start of summer.

What this solstice doesn’t represent is the earliest sunrise, which usually occurs a few days before, it’s also not the hottest day of the year, which will come about a month later in this area. Why, if the tilt is closest to the sun? Because it takes time for land and water to warm up.

So, get out and enjoy the solstice and the remaining days of summer. Each day after the solstice we will begin to lose a little light each day.

Ideas to enjoy the outdoors include taking a late evening hike and watching the sunset, taking a bike ride and doing the same, getting in some extra gardening, or just visiting one of the local outdoor spaces.