Beech Tree News Network

Summer days have unofficially arrived. This is the time of year when most of us spend more time outside. We garden, engage in sporting and water activities, and watch kids play outside. It’s also a great time for “porch sitting.”

The official beginning of summer is June 20th. The Old Farmer’s Almanac website (http://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-summer-2017-summer-solstice) noted that due to time zones in North America, the 2017 Summer Solstice will occur:
•    Wednesday, June 21, 12:24 A.M. EDT
•    Tuesday, June 20, 11:24 P.M. CDT
•    Tuesday, June 20, 10:24 P.M. MDT
•    Tuesday, June 20, 9:24 P.M. PDT
Other information on this website included “Summer Solstice Folklore”:
•    Deep snow in winter, tall grain in summer. –Estonian proverb
•    When the summer birds take their flight, goes the summer with them.
•    If it rains on Midsummer’s Eve, the filbert crops will be spoiled. –Unknown
•    One swallow never made a summer.
•    Easterly winds from May 19 to the 21 indicate a dry summer.
•    If there are many falling stars during a clear summer evening, expect thunder. If there are none, expect fine weather.

People view summer differently – as seen in the quotes below (https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/summer.html):
•    Aaah, summer – that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It's a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends. – Darell Hammond
•    Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. – Sam Keen
•    Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. – John Lubbock
•    I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds. – Robert Bridges
•    Whenever I was upset by something in the papers, Jack always told me to be more tolerant, like a horse flicking away flies in the summer. – Jackie Kennedy
•    Supposedly, summer vacation happens because that's when the kids are home from school, although having the kids home from school is no vacation. And supposedly the kids are home from school because of some vestigial throwback to our agricultural past. – P. J. O'Rourke

My favorite season is summer. I appreciate the warm weather and the beauty in nature. Today, I watched a little bird sitting on an outdoor chair, chirping for more than a minute. That little brown bird was unique in its ability to ignore a human not too far away and sing. I even had time to take a picture with my phone to share with my daughters.

Henry James said, “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language” (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/summer). Summer afternoons are good times to enjoy the warm weather. And I hope to spend some time “porch sitting” – with a good book and bug spray.