85 bar steep fall 29.89 0mph WNW dew-point 68 Summer, warm and sunny
Waxing Gibbous Thunder Moon
We long ago passed the midpoint of summer, June 21, and have begun the fattening, browning, bursting journey to the harvest season. It begins in earnest as July ends, but some early givers have offered themselves already: lettuce, beans, beets, carrots, onions and garlic. We all, at least all of us up north of 45 degrees latitude, await squash, cucumbers, corn, watermelon and the full seasonal abundance of beans and peas and tomatoes.
Even the angle of the sun reached its apogee at the Summer Solstice and has begun steadily declining since then, shortening the day and lengthening the night. The deepening shadows of afternoon tell the tale, too, as does the now far gone blooming of the daffodils, tulips and scylla.
This partly benighted soul finds a comfort in the change, preferring the winter to the summer solstice, the sweet melancholy of fall to the bursting forth of spring. When the wind direction swings to the north, and the winds begin to howl, then the weather begins to stir the deep reaches. The inner cathedral gains in holiness as the need for candles increases. Walking those corridors, those ancient trails of the interior journey, demand a commensurate gloom, or, at least, welcome it.
Until then, Persephone above ground keeps us focused on food and external pleasures. We soak in the sun, till the earth, travel the highways and airways. This is, too, a time of burnt sacrifice, smoked hecatombs appearing on decks and patios across the land.