Summer Solstice 2022

Just by way of observing it, welcome to beginning of summer in earth's northern hemisphere and the official beginning of winter in the southern. I do think we have to start thinking of the big picture, of life on planet earth, not just whether or not, it's a good/bad day individually. A lot of places seem pretty fucked right now, and generally getting worse in others, and the outlook globally is grim and grimmer. 

Individually, we're pretty helpless about it. Changing enough to make a difference must be a collective action and that seems pretty impossible, given governments continued support of polluting industries but one can hope. 

Yes. This is a grim perspective, but hey! The solstice and equinox are a traditional time to pause and reflect on the unity and interdependence of life and that isn't all bad.

Spring Equinox 2022

Behold the Good Vibe Solar Collector. Even in the worst of times, there is always something to be grateful for. If I can do it so can you, and I'm doing it, so do it. If you can't come up with anything to grateful about, take all you want from the Good Vibe Solar Collector. It's free!

Collecting good Spring vibes for you for free!

 
PS. Happy Spring Equinox, 2020

Summer solstice two days late

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the longest day of year 2021 north of the equator was two days late. I am late writing about it, which I think is a first since I started this blog 18 years ago. 

It was an odd oversight as I've been watching sunlight slowly move north for months, waiting for it to finally shine on Plantie. She's the little rescue plant I moved to the narrow gorilla garden along the wall of the parking lot across the street. Others have planted things there as well so it seemed okay. She had outgrown her pot and was beginning to die. The biggest problem in this tiny garden is that a wall shades it most of the year. 

It was only as summer solstice drew near that Plantie and her companions finally got to enjoy the sun's early morning rays, which they say is like mother's milk to growing things. Now that this singular moment has passed, the shade will soon return. 

I miss having my own garden, such is apartment life, but how did I miss the solstice? I was distracted, rushed, busy from the beginning of that day to its end when I finally went to bed. First it was with one of my ongoing medical issues, it sucks getting old, followed by two meetings in a row. I intend to die with my boots on.

Spring equinox 2021

 - Happy Vernal Equinox -
beginning of spring in Earth's northern hemisphere

beginning of autumn in Earth's southern hemisphere

Along with dawn, dusk, and phases of the moon, Vernal Equinox (beginning of spring) and the Autumnal Equinox (beginning of autumn) are among the few truly universal events observed and celebrated on this planet, and not just by humans. After all, who hasn't felt like howling at the moon now and then or, sometimes, wake to see early rays of morning light? So today is the Vernal Equinox. For the one moment sunlight crosses the celestial equator moving from south to north, day and night are of equal duration the world over.  Have a lovely day, better yet, have an ordinary day. I don't know about you but these strange days I find myself longing for nothing more than an ordinary day.

Winter Solstice and the Great Conjunction 2020

In the year 1226, as Genghis Khan strode across the earth, he saw the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky, a sublime event which did not occur again for another 397 years. Unfortunately, at that time, poor Galileo couldn't see it because that time the planets were too close to the sun. Today, however, today—794 years after Genghis Khan gazed at this dazzling conjunction of planets—today—during the northern Winter Solstice—Jupiter and Saturn again join to form the Great Conjunction.

On this shortest of days, this longest of nights, this time of re-calibration, endings and new beginnings may we find the peace we seek and the strength we need for the years ahead.

Jupiter - Saturn Great Conjunction
Winter Solstice 2020

Autumn equinox 2020

My eight-year-old grandson to his mother the other day . . .

Frank's flowers

"Mom, this is all so big. First the Covid, then the fires, and then my friend's house burned down." He proceeded to go into the yard, collect some flowers, and put this little bouquet on his desk."

Midsummer Eve 2020

Today is the apex of light in earth's northern hemisphere. Given the pandemic, I'm not feeling particularly cheery at the moment but best wishes and good luck to you—whatever year you happen by.

Midwinter's eve

Sunday, December 22 at 04:19 UTC, is the exact moment of winter solstice this year in the Northern Hemisphere. Adjusted to my local time this means the winter solstice is tonight, Saturday night, at 20:19 UTC (8:19 PM PST). This longest night of the year is my favorite winter celebration. I see this moment of suspension before the North Pole begins turning again towards the sun, is a moment of quiet amidst the ever-grinding gears of time. It is a time to rest, reflect and re-calibrate before beginning the next cycle.

But already it is past time. This solstice offers a stark view of where we are and where we're doing to the planet we live on. Now, either we change or be changed forever.

Equinox 2019 - The Balance

I'm mostly ignorant of the solstice and equinox mysteries and rituals through the millennia. I haven't even watched the sun rise on Stonehenge, the most famous and popular of the prehistoric stone circles, though I have, on ordinary days, stood in the middle of a few in Ireland that were maybe three or four thousand years old and I am known to burn a candle in the dark of a solstice eve.

View from here - Autumn Equinox 2019

Today I read up on the difference between the meteorological and astronomical beginnings of the seasons. According to the meteorological calculation, each season always begins on the same calendar day. For example, in the northern hemisphere, autumn always begins on September 1.

OTOH, the astronomical calculation marks the beginning of the seasons by the relationship of the earth to the sun. There are spring and fall equinoxes (equal night/day) and the winter and summer solstices (longest/shortest night/day).

So today, 23 September at 07:50 UTC, the sun was directly over earth's equator. In the northern hemisphere this is the astronomical autumn equinox and beginning of Fall. In my current time zone that means the moment when light/dark were equal the world over occurred at 12:50 AM PST. I was asleep.

So . . . Happy Equinox 2019. Enjoy the balance. Let go. Rest a moment as the gears change. Now spring begins in the Southern Hemisphere and Autumn here in the north.

Autumn Equinox and already
Alley's special morning sunny spot is not lasting as long.

Summer solistice 2019

In the southern hemisphere this is the shortest day of the year, the longest night, the pause, the time of in-going and renewal, the beginning of winter. Here in the northern hemisphere this is the longest day of the year, the beginning of summer, the dance, the lingering and going about. Wherever you are, whatever species you encounter as you go along your way today, be kind.

Unfortunately, the Summer Solstice is also the beginning of the 10 day Yulin dog meat "festival" during which thousands of dogs and cats are bludgeoned, blow-torched, skinned, and boiled alive for a 10 day drunken "feast".

Please help shut down the Yulin!

Sign the HSI petition and pass the link around. Thank you.

Winter Solstice 2018

It's the Winter Solstice toady and the full moon and there's a meteor shower. Much afoot in the heavens and here on earth. For me, it's a time to pause and reflect where I've been, where I am, and where I'm going. Happy new year and first day of winter.

Summer Solstice 2018

Thunder and rain all night and now a cloudy, humid morning. It's almost feels tropical but this is Portland Oregon so I'm not counting on seeing a blue sky today on this, the official beginning of Summer now duly noted.

With over 2500 children currently imprisoned in internment camps by Trump and the Republicans and no end in sight, just fuckwad's useless magic marker scrawl on yet another impotent "executive order", I feel hypocritical and sad even mentioning summer as it calls to mind childhood and the golden days of summer but it is the beginning of summer so somehow make it count for good.

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice, a poem and the science . . .

First the poetry

Christmas is a few days off. Nostalgia and expectations are high. Neighborhood houses, trees, and bushes twinkle with lights and glowing Santas and cartoon characters wobble in the dark. Other than time with family, I do my best to avoid the whole thing. Instead I quietly observe the winter solstice. It is my Sanctum Sanitarium so, as on other years, I am re-posting a poem I wrote to celebrate it. It's my candle in the window during this longest, darkest of nights.




The image came later. It's based on a photo I took of the full moon rising over a ravine in the Nevada outback. It was a ridiculously difficult place to get to. We walked the road first just to see if the jeep could make it down. Now, after some unusually wet springs and increased flash flooding, I doubt road to this incredible place still exists.

Now the science

Sunlight on Earth, at the December solstice.
North Pole in 24-hour darkness; South Pole in 24-hour daylight.

www.earthsky.org

I started this post in the morning and now, hours after dark, I'm finally getting around to finishing it. Tonight is the solstice so I must. I wish you a serene end to the old cycle and at least one moment of deep peace sometime during this longest night.

Autumn Equinox

Vienna at twilight

Once again, the beginning of autumn. The equinox. I'm in Vienna. The equinox here is at 20:02 this evening then the night grows longer and the days grow cold. Be well wherever you are.

Spring Equinox 2017

It's morning in America, 06:33 AM PST when I started this post and the first day of Spring. For Pearl, a flickr friend in Australia, today is the long awaited first day of fall. As the sun returns to our hemisphere I hope she and her beloved companions Ms. Pips and Ms. Woolly and their world finally get relief from what has been a summer of grueling heat.

Spring Equinox night in Bangkok

It's the end of the day here in Bangkok. The high was 34° Celsius (93.2° Fahrenheit). Like I said, I didn't know it was the equinox when I woke up but the morning light gave me pause, something about how it illuminated the leaves of the trees below my window. They glowed primavera green. They called to me, drew me in, reminded me . . . even in this blade runner city . . . earth lives . . . will prevail. That area is dark now, the left third of this photo I took tonight. A lot of Thai people live in that section, under long, shared tin roofs. I don't think there is much in the way of walls between them. The trees grow wild there. They have been hacked down numerous times but grow back again, as they are now.

Happy first day of Spring and Roy, thank you for reminding me.

Happy Summer Solstice!

Longest day, shortest night and the official beginning of summer in the Western Hemisphere.

Now, I'm going to go do a Summer Solstice I Ching. Yes. I do the I Ching online these days. Don't even carry the book or use coins. Haven't for awhile. To a purist, of course, the idea of an online oracle must be total heresy  but that's their problem. Anyway, today's a good day to do a reading, as in tune in, tune up.

I'll probably post the result here later. Today's entry is already one of those run-on repost reposts. In the meantime, we pause for a public service announcement.

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The Seattle Humane Society is holding a Summer Solstice Adopt-a-thon. Good luck doggies. I hope today you all get your new fur-ever homes. I know. Corny.

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So on to the Summer Solstice reading...

Cast Hexagram:

13 - Thirteen: T'ung Jên / Social Mechanism

"....You are not building a new organization, but shoring up an existing infrastructure.
It's worth the effort, because it will provide union, community, and an ironclad alliance."

Transformed Hexagram:

51 - Fifty-One: Chên / Thunder

"....to one who understands its significance, this thunder is a signal to repent.
Centering the Self, seeking balance, the enlightened person will respect and align himself with this Higher Power, while his fellows remain subject to the whims of every passing storm."

Just read that a very experience hiker had gone missing on Mt. Rainer. That gave me a start as my nephew is climbing that mountain today, along with his girlfriend and some buddies. I've been wondering if he's going to propose to her when they get to the summit then the headline about a missing climber popped up on Yahoo. Turns out it's no one in their party which a relief but, of course, I'm sorry anyone is having trouble up there. Six people fell to their deaths on Mt. Rainer just last month. Conditions are still too dangerous for crews to attempt to recover their bodies then a member of the rescue team searching for Karen Sykes, the climber who just went missing, was hurt when he punched through a snow bridge and had to be airlifted out.

Happy Winter Solstice & end of the 13th B'ak'tun

Gotta go. It's going to be snowing in the mountains today and we have to get over the pass.

Put a log on the fire.  Time to celebrate the end of the 13th b'ak'tun and...

Happy Winter Solstice!

Here on earth

The gulp of magpies just left after a quick breakfast of peanuts and cookie crumbs. We picked out the chocolate. Bad for birds. They came late this morning, after the longest night. The regulars will return throughout the day. The rest go I don't know where, wherever magpies go on their winter foraging route. The way they shoot up from the east at day break like a fighter squadron, I like to think the Bird Park is their first stop.

Writing is a tough job. For me. Seems words prefer a different part of my brain than that part I use when writing them down. Writing makes me self-conscious. Critical. I have given it up ten million times ten million times. Still the words want out so I write again and the process repeats itself. At this moment, I loathe myself for being so analytical. Welcome to my morning.

It is a lack of faith. Not religious faith. Screw that crap. No need to explain further. After all, this is, for the most part, a time lapse conversation with myself and I already know what I mean.

I wrote one poem while in Costa Rica and plan to submit it to The Midwest Quarterly. Their listing in Poet's Market states they are looking for poems that use "intense, vivid, concrete, and/or surrealistic images to explore the mysterious and surprising interactions fo the natural and inner human worlds." We shall see.

I hope your morning/day/night is going well. The winter solstice is among my favorite times of year. End and beginning. Darkest night. It is not just a moment but a season. It's message this year? Lighten up.

Happy Winter Solstice

photo via Story Midwife

Summer's first day

Happy Summer Solstice.