SUMMER BEGINS

POST # 31

At precisely 5:09pm MDT (mountain daylight time) yesterday, summer 2012 began. Yesterday was June 20th so the solstice began a few hours earlier than we have come to expect. The most common date used for the start of the change of the four seasons, is the 21st of the months of March, June, September and December, however this varies somewhat from year to year. As I tried to explain many times to my friends in Australia during the years that I lived downunder, there was a specific point in time when each season began. But I was never successful in convincing them of this. In Australia, as far as most Australians are concerned, the seasons begin on March 1st, June 1st, September 1st, and December 1st. I think they must get this idea from the person doing the weather reports on the 6 o'clock news, because even they would use the first of the month as their guide. And no doubt some of these weather reporters were even meteorologists, who should know better. So if you live in Australia, for some strange astronomical reason, the four seasons start about three weeks earlier than normal. Of course they are reversed, so that today is now the beginning of winter there. And way up in Dawson City Yukon, summer has officially started. My guess is that today, there are more than a few locals walking around feeling either sleepy or hungover or both. The reason for this would be the fact that last night many of them would have been out partying to celebrate the solstice, and aside from the copious amounts of alcohol consumed, some of the more hearty folks would have taken the opportunity to stay up all night long. I too have had this opportunity, and it is really quite a unique experience at that latitude. Even though Dawson is just south of the arctic circle, and as a result the sun does set for a very short spell, the light cast from it never disappears. So one has the opportunity to watch a sunset turn into a sunrise which is a very unique experience. At some point early in the morning the subtle sunset colours magically turn into sunrise colours. It is quite something to see and I am glad to have had the opportunity to do so.
Six months ago on winter solstice I was hunkered down in Bear Creek, Yukon . I spent part of that long, long night outside walking around in the snow with my dog buddies, Skidder, Breaker and Roxie, and staring up at the stars, while the two cats, Dusty and Trouble were inside curled up by the heater. I had fun climbing up and down the snow covered hills with my four legged companions, and I sure could not have imagined that only 6 months later, I would only be able to hobble around, and very slowly at that.
So here I am without any dogs to hobble around with me at the moment. But that is ok for now and I am enjoying the fact that I have this place to recuperate in. I have a very undemanding schedule at the present time and I happy about that. Each day I try to give my right leg a bit more exercise, and I have a stationary bike set up so that I can do 30 minutes a day on it, in order to get some muscle strength back in my leg.
But today, because it is a beautiful summer day, I will make sure to get out and enjoy as much of that summer sunshine as possible, because even now as I type these last few words, the earth is continuing its relentless journey around the sun and has travelled about one million, eight hundred thousand kilometers since last night at 5:09pm and so the days are now getting shorter. The squirrels, the magpies and the rabbits are all outside enjoying the day, so I think it's time I joined my outdoor "pets" and took a walk on the grass in my bare feet.
Happy Trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer