. . . . and the livin’ is easy

Today is Litha, the Summer Solstice, the first day of Summer.  Actually, we’ve been having summer for a while but now, it is official!

In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs when the sun reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky.  It is the longest day of the year.  And, this year, an annular solar eclipse will occur on the weekend of the solstice, beginning just before midnight EDT on Saturday, June 20, and reaching its maximum point at 2:40am EDT on the 21st. Annular eclipses are very similar to total solar eclipses, but instead of covering the Sun completely, the Moon only covers most of the Sun, leaving a thin, shining ring—called an “annulus” or “ring of fire”—around the Moon’s dark shape.  Unfortunately for us, the eclipse will not be visible from North America, but can be viewed from parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

My New Mexico daughter and son-in-law have been here this past week.  He is retired and she works from home so they’ve been isolating since March, as have I.  They left early this morning planning to make the drive back to Albuquerque in one day.

It’s a 1000-mile drive – I’ve made it a couple of times, though always in 2 days.  But with two drivers they should be fine and get home before dark.  We didn’t do much – honestly, I live in Wharton.  There’s not much to do in the best of times.  My daughter worked and son-in-law went to visit a friend in Austin.  Still, I enjoyed every minute of their being here and already miss them a lot.

While they were here, we watched a movie – I See You, starring Helen Hunt and Jon Tenney.  I had started to watch it a couple weeks before they arrived – BUT – it pushed all my “panic” buttons so I turned it off.  Nope, not watching that alone.  The trailer says – “It follows a suburban family beset by unexplainable events that may be linked to the recent disappearance of a young boy.”  But, it is soooo much more and there’s a good blend of scare and suspense.  I enjoyed it and when it was over, I got up and made sure the doors were all locked!

Oh, in addition to being the first day of Summer, it’s also World Juggling Day. 

The unofficial holiday was first observed in the mid-1980s as National Juggling Day in the United States in order to raise awareness of the art and science of juggling and to encourage people to take up the art.  In 1995, the name of the day was changed to World Juggling Day in order to reflect the global reach of the IJA.

I did a little work outside early in the week and came across this . . . .

It’s a Cicada Killer Wasp.  It looks like an extremely large yellow jacket, which was a bit alarming when I first saw it. This one was about an inch and a half long.  The females capture and paralyze cicadas and uses them as dinner for her larva.  They can sting but for the most part they’re shy of people.  The males do not have stingers and while seem aggressive they are actually harmless.  Interesting.  I just left it alone and went on with my gardening related stuff. 

Well, there’s not much else exciting going on at my house.  Enjoy the day, celebrate the sun, and remember to set out milk and honey for the fairies tonight!

20 Jun 2020