As I write this, the Summer solstice has passed. My question is simply, now what happens?
I used to think the season of Summer began on the solstice. But local weathermen say no. It actually begins (for them at least) on June 1st. So what happens on the solstice, then? I know the days get shorter. But that is all I know.
What else does it signify? And what else can be tied to the date?
:):):)
Lana Del Rey was born on the 1985 solstice. Perfect music to ring in Cancer season. I’m celebrating.
According to my chart, this year, on June 20th and 21st the length of daylight has reached it maximum. Sunrise reaches its earliest time on the 11th and slowly gets later after the 21st. Sunset is at its latest from the 20th through July 1st. So the solstice marks what is consistently the greatest length of daylight for most of the northern hemisphere above the tropics.
The chart I go by was generated by a US Navy web page, which no longer seems to be there. As it was generated for my specific location, the numbers I use may not be the same for you.
Here’s a link to the starting UNO sunrise/sunset (and more) page.
One fun thing to see is how due to the Earth’s orbit being eliptical and aphelion comes around July 4th the dates of earliest sunrise/latest sunset don’t occur exactly at the solstice.
Hey, that’s plenty in my book.
<plaintively> “Summer! Don’t go! I miss you already!”
*<**ThelmaLou *drops to her knees> “Staaaaaay!”
It’s not yet officially summer for me. School’s out, I’ve eaten both watermelon and mulberries, I’ve heard ice-cream trucks, and I’ve done a week’s laundry in two loads instead of three, but I still haven’t seen any lightning bugs. Until I finish the checklist, it’s not summer.
But have you danced naked in the pale moonlight?
Well, I’ve danced beneath the diamond sky
With one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea
Circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate
Driven deep beneath the waves
Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Bring on the night. I couldn’t stand another hour of daylight.
I am going to a big party, with a bonfire, singing and clothing optional bonfire dancing - so very summer solstice-y. It should be fun, as long as I wear enough sunblock and bug spray.
I like the renewal feeling of it - looking ahead, embracing the summer season…looking forward to it!
I was in Fairbanks, Alaska, last July. You would not have liked it.
Yeah, I spent one summer solstice in Fairbanks. It just never got dark. The sun dipped just below the horizon for maybe 70 minutes and popped back up again. Went to bed at 10:30 PM, woke with the clock saying 11:45 and saw the light of day outside, was sure I overslept and missed the bus to the river tour. But it was 11:45 PM. :smack:
Norway islanders want to go ‘time-free’ when sun doesn’t set
Take THAT, Daylight Savings Time! Fold it five ways and stick it where the sun don’t… oh, wait…
That happened to me when I was with a tour group in Scotland on the Summer Solstice. Woke up at 3:00 am with the sun shining in, convinced I had missed the bus! I figured out that’s why, in all those British movies, the rooms have heavy curtains that the maid opens when she brings in the hero’s morning cup of tea-in-bed.
Seems to me there is a nude bicycle ride associated with it as well.
I guess I had in mind the fact that now the days will begin getting shorter instead of longer at ~45 deg N.Latitude. So I’ve got that to look forward to. 
I work in a store owned by observant Jewish people, and on Fridays we have to close two hours before sundown for Shabbos. Yesterday it was 6 p.m.
Now the Friday work schedule gets earlier and earlier, to be at 2:00 on the winter solstice.
ETA: The ancient Celtic pagans, who set up the first solar calendar, put the equinoxes and solstices in the middle of the seasons. So summer (Beltane) ran from May 1st to July 31st. The day of the summer solstice was called Litha.
Makes more sense really. Why do we call June 21 the beginning of summer when it’s really the midpoint of summer, for example?