Summer At Last!!!

What better source than The Old Farmers' Almanac:

Summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere on June 20, 2012, at 7:09 P.M. (EDT)...

The Summer Solstice
Each year, the timing of the solstice depends on when the Sun reaches its farthest point north of the equator. This occurs annually on June 20 or June 21 in North America, depending on your time zone.

The word solstice is from the Latin solstitium, from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop), reflecting the fact that the Sun appears to stop at this time (and again at the winter solstice).

Russian Writer, Straw Hat, Summer

"I know you can help me. I'm looking for a straw hat. A summer hat. One that's like the ones worn by Chekhov and Tolstoy. You know, the famous Russian writers."

"Are you a writer who is Russian?"

"A writer who is not Russian. A Writer. I have pictures of what I'm talking about. Wanna see some pictures?"

"This is Chekhov. See the straw hat? It's summer. Something like that."

No verbal responses. The hat people share glances, raised eyebrows. They are experts. Are they cooking something up? Scanning the archives?

Your Bloguero charges on. He has done research, as one might expect. "Well, this one is clearer. It's Tolstoy."

"Well, actually it isn't the real Tolstoy. It's how he looked in that movie, The Last Station. Seen that? It was a great movie. That's the hat I want."

"Oh. I know what that is. We've got it. It came in yesterday." Smiles all around.

"This isn't going to cost me a fortune is it?" No, it turns out, it is not.

A nice warm round of applause for our friends at The Village Scandal, 19 East 7th Street, New York (between Second and Third Avenues). What a fantastic hat store in New York City. Bravo!!

Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky

When you're as lost as we are right now, maybe the best idea is to go back and to find out where we went off course. August, 1969, at Woodstock seems as good a starting point as any. First, there are the iconic performances. This Jimi Hendrix performance set the standard. But as important, everyone, whether they were there or not, has decided that it's ok to lie and proclaim in solidarity, "Yeah, I was there." There were about 500,000 people there. Why is it that 2.3 million or more now claim to have been there? Why indeed. Because it was one of the very few moments when what appeared to be everybody was on the same page. It was one of the few moments when everybody wished they were there. That makes it a good place to begin the search.

I'm not suggesting that you fill your brain with blotter acid to do this. Or some other entheogen. No. I'm just asking you to imagine this. Imagine you are back there, 42 years ago, standing in the mud at the end of Woodstock. What did you want? Where did you want to be in 40 years? Can you remember? Do you remember wanting there to be peace? Did you want the war in Vietnam to be over and for the troops to come home? Do you remember wanting to have a life filled with love? Do you remember thinking about justice and how everyone is entitled to fair treatment and an end to so very many kinds of discrimination? Do you remember thinking about how the nation's vast abundance could be shared so that poverty could be ended? Do you remember thinking about what would later be called ecology and concerns about destroying the earth? What was it that you were thinking?

What happened? Where did you make a turn away from those aspirations? When did your idealism become impracticable? When did you sell out? When did you begin to suck it up and go along? I'm not making accusations. How could I? I'm not pointing fingers. I'm just asking us to wonder: what happened to us? And yes, I acknowledge some of us have kept on keeping on. But those are a very small minority.

Where, I want to know, did so many of us fall into such a deep trance? Where did so many of us become distracted? Where did we lose our way? Where did we give up? Where did we "grow up"? When did we quit? When did we stop hoping?

And I wonder, can we accept all of this and change now? Can we again find in the middle of our chests our beating heart and our battered soul?

'Tis The Season

From The Dream Antilles

"Oh what questions!" Swamiji snickered. "Why are you asking me these questions, do you think I know the answers to them?"
"Well, actually," Arjuna responded, "Don't you?"
"Of course not, you silly man!" Swamiji exploded in laughter. "I only answer practical questions. You know that by now!" Usually the outburst infected the other disciples and they too would be convulsed.
"I told you many times," Swamiji said, "Just notice and appreciate the perfection in everything and feel your gratitude. When you have learned to do this, I will notice it and I will give you the next step. Meanwhile, eat nothing but watermelon."
"Why watermelon?" Swamiji anticipated. "Because it will help to develop your sense of humor." He found this remark hysterical and was again convulsed with a torrent of laughter which his disciples shared.
Arjuna dutifully wandered off in search of watermelon. "Is that why he laughs like that?" he wondered. None of the other disciples was eating only watermelon. This must be something he needed, a special prescription for his personal enlightenment."

Then there's this Wiki.

And the answer to your question: why now? Why show this now, when in some places Winter is beginning, and in some places it is the hot season, and in some places it is the beginning of the rainy season?

Why indeed. Because today in usually grey Upstate New York it is at last green. And warm. Mid 80's. And yesterday, the first watermelon arrived in the supermarket.

This first watermelon is actually too pale. And it is not sweet enough. And not completely juicy. And it costs too much. But it is a hint, a tease of the abundant sweetness and warmth and humidity and greenness and fireflies and laziness soon to arrive. It is a reminder of the imminence of Eden. And it is truly something to celebrate.