Happy 1st Day of Summer!

"What a beautiful, sunny morning. It makes you happy to be alive, doesn't it? We can't let the sun outshine us! We have to beam, too!"

Takayuki Ikkaku

I like the meaning behind these words!  We must celebrate each day given to us with hope, gratitude and inspiration.  Us Oregonians and other North-westerners have oft been heard bemoaning our rainy and dreary spring.  I must, in light of the terrible natural disasters that are striking across most of the United States as well as other countries, embrace our nice 70 degree weather and be gracious. Mom and Bill just finished their trip traveling our great States (18 in all I believe) and were plagued with 100 degree temperatures, swollen rivers, tornado ravaged areas.   While their trip was a true success and a great story, they had to alternate their route often in order to avoid these areas.  So thank you beautiful sunny day and your promise of 82 degrees!  I welcome the chance to soak up some Vitamin D and bask in your rays!  Hope you all are able to take the opportunity to enjoy the weather today and may it bring good tidings for the season to come!


Just for fun...here is the word summer in some other languages :)


German - sommer
Lithuanian - vasara
Portuguese - verao
Polish - lato
Italian - estate
Indonesian - musim panas
Swedish - sommar

Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.

As a major celestial event, the Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The Northern Hemisphere celebrates in June, but the people on the Southern half of the earth have their longest summer day in December.


In the Northern Hemisphere, summer solstice begins on Jun 21 2011 at 1:16 P.M. EDT