Summer Solstice Strawberry Moon

moon rising in the sky

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I love taking pictures of the tops of trees touching the sky.  Especially at dusk as the moon rises. It might be my favorite time of day. Maybe because I was born at night.

This past week I watched the moon becoming more full and tonight it’s the full strawberry moon.

It’s also summer solstice. The longest day of the year and the first day of summer! The first time that the two have coincided since 1967, the Summer of Love. Back then it was a time filled with chaos and change.

Based on the horrific and tragic event last week at Pulse and the looming Democratic and Republican conventions, it looks like we might be in for another long hot summer. I hope that as a nation we can do better than 1967heal and move towards light and love.

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Winter Solstice Blooming Flowers

winter solstice blooming flowersIt may be the first day of winter, but Mother Nature seems confused.

As I walked around yesterday, I saw this tree blooming. Apparently it thinks it’s spring!

The weather this week is supposed to be downright balmy. The forecast for Christmas Eve is the mid to upper 60s!

Since I know the warmth will not last, I’ll enjoy it and the surprise flowers.

Happy Solstice! Looking forward to more light….

The Longest Day

summer solstice longest dayLast week was a tough one for our country. Especially for African-Americans. What happened in Charleston, South Carolina left me numb. I had to just sit to get my bearings.

I still haven’t processed it. Maybe I will never get my head around what happened. It was too violent. Too senseless. And we know that something similar will happen again. This country needs to address the past to get to the healing. We need to address so many things.

But none of us will make it through the day if we only think about the bad. So we go on and look for the good.

Today was the longest day of the year. The summer solstice. It was also Father’s Day. Those are two very good things in one day. I spent time with my family and had a nice meal.

When I was driving home, it was after 8pm and still light. I decided to chase the last of the light on this one day of the year when we have the most daylight. There’s something special about a day like this and I wanted to savor every last drop.

It started out raining in the morning, then cleared up and got warm and sunny. A perfect first day of summer. I took pictures of the sunset near an open field. The light remained.

It was also the first International Yoga Day. I didn’t get to do any yoga today, but I am almost done with my annual listing of free yoga classes in Boston. It should be up on the blog within the next day or so all new for 2015!

The last bit of light was looking at the Boston skyline from Wollaston Beach in Quincy. It was a beautiful sunset and smelled like the sea. Now I’ll do a bit of meditating and hope for a peaceful week for us all.

Namaste.

Quote of the Week: Desmond Tutu

covered bridge

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”  ~ Desmond Tutu

This week we have the least amount of daylight for the year. Sunday is the Winter Solstice — the first day of winter. After that, we start back toward longer days and more sunlight.

While winter is not my favorite time of the year, there is beauty in the season and a certain coziness with coming inside out of the cold. So I’ll appreciate the gifts of winter and look forward to spring.

Happy Solstice!