This is Jim Champagne’s day. I know Birthing Person Nature would quibble with that, but she is busy. I know it is the observation of the change of season, the alleged Summer Solstice, but as far as I am concerned, it belongs to Jim. He was the de facto Dad at the Amen Corner, and would be plotting for days as sundown slipped further back on the clock. It caused disorientation with the usual crew at the famous Willow Bar as we walked outside lit up enough for the unexpected lingering light to be welcome but unnecessary. On this day, Jim would be ready to look up and growl at anyone who had the temerity to brightly say “It is the longest day!”
Jim would glower and them and growl: “It is exactly the same length as any other day, Moron,” and take a deep swallow of his Budweiser long neck bottle, his satisfying seasonal duty done.
He was of course correct, and over the years, I settled into his way of marking it. There is more daylight, of course, but still contained in the same ordinary length of day. Let’s be precise. Jim would appreciate it. A solstice happens when the sun’s zenith is at its furthest point from the equator, though I think Jim could have an issue with that statement, too. On the June solstice, the Earth’s North Pole tilts most directly towards the sun, at about 23.4 degrees..
It’s also known as the northern solstice because it occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere. We also are the furthest from the sun, rather than the closest, but that is just the way the north pole is pointed. So, apologies to those enjoying an evening cocktail south of the equator. I would say they are having the shortest day, and Jim is no longer here to correct me, so we will leave it at that.
I know we have abandoned Latin, along with math, due to their inherent systemic whatever, so I looked on one of my old computers that hasn’t been updated since before the last election. In it, I found the Romans used their word “solstitium” for the convenient meaning “sun-stopping.” I have not run into anyone intending to do that, but the day is young. We have shortened it up a bit to suit our more straightforward time and call it the Solstice. The point on the horizon where the sun appears to rise and set, stops and reverses direction after 11:32PM DST tonight. Remember: For land navigational purposes, the sun does not rise on the solstice precisely in the east, but peeks up a little north of east and sets to the north of west, meaning it’s visible in the sky for a longer period of time. I think that would satisfy Jim, and peace be with him.
Although the June solstice marks the first day of astronomical summer, it’s more common to use meteorological definitions of seasons which makes the Lady in Red on the television happy. That would add confusion, since the solstice is meteorological midsummer. I don’t know if Jim would approve of that. He was a man of precision.
We have bigger changes to accommodate, of course. June 19th is now the National Holiday of Juneteenth. We needed another holiday in June for good reason, and this was a good way to pack up a weekend previously devoted to Fathers and Climatic changes and getting the Federal workforce another day off with pay. I think there are 44 of them now, which will be useful to catch up for the last fifteen months of them.
The Sun has not agreed to change any orbital stuff, so that is likely to stay constant. Fathers have not been re-named yet, though I have heard some muttering from otherwise rational individuals who are now considered “birthing persons” rather than whatever their old word was. I assume there will be something disparaging and painful for men produced shortly. So, in a way, I am holding on to the Solstice. It doesn’t seem to have the same loony fashion sense as everything else does these days.
Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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