The long days

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From 20 June, 2005; our village in England. This was snapped at 8.11 p.m!

The impending summer solstice, a sick spouse, and other musings....

I love the lead up to the longest day of the year. Daylight-wise, the solstice is a magical moment that hasn't been diminished despite my mum passing on that day several years ago. Hard to believe she's been gone that long, hard to imagine what she'd make of life today.

Long days are still long even if the marine layer muscles in, attempting to lessen the brightness of the rising, then risen sun. Last week when the granddaughters were here, sunshine beckoned without any clouds. For three or four days I watched the sun rise so far north on the horizon, or how it appeared. Even with the fog, the light can't be hidden. This is my favourite season of the year!

(It was even more astonishing when we lived in Britain, as we were further north than I am today, but that's a memory for another post....)

My husband's cold continues, poor chap! Nothing we can do about that but wait out the recovery. We've been indulging in ancient Great British Bake Off series in the evening, will do so again tonight as I stitch Kawandi-style a placemat partially sewn by my eldest grandgirl! She and her sister learned the basics of machine sewing last week, and will receive their placemats as soon as I finish big sis's, wash it, then post it. Teaching kids to sew requires patience on everyone's part, and reminding kids THEY CONTROL THE FABRIC. I think they more enjoyed rummaging through the scrap tote for practice strips, but next time they visit, I'll get out my old machine so both can have a go without one hovering over the other, hah!

It might not be hot here, but it's certainly bright, and definitely not cold. My hip is better, thank you Jesus! I'm itching to get baby chicks, but also hoping to put the next few weeks to good writing use, time will tell. On my list of To Do's for today was to investigate timelines for characters in The Enran Chronicles, specifically Tama and Bobby. Not sure I'll get to that, but there's always tomorrow.

Tomorrow the daylight will increase by thirty-nine seconds, hot damn! Even if clouds act like they own the place, I'll most likely wake to some level of brightness. I sure HOPE I don't wake before dawn, dude! If I do, I'll make a pot of partially caffeinated tea, and revel in how early the day begins. And this evening I'll enjoy how late the sun sets, even though by then a marine layer will attempt to obscure some of the light. That's fine, nature bats last every single day. But these days nature has to have a late shot of espresso because summer is doing its awesome thing. And I'm going to sit back and watch as yet one more day slips into the past, just not as dark as the previous one.

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