june 23, 2011, Multiply, Summer Solstice

ow I spent the Summer Solstice 2011

Jun 23, '11 5:49 PM for everyone

This year I had decided to stay up and watch the sun rise. I stayed up, and the morning was beautiful. I walked around my little garden and picked a few flowers at exactly the time of sunrise. The birds were  breaking into song and the big tree across the road rustled  in the breeze. I didn't see the sun rise, my garden is in completely the wrong place, I would need to walk to the sea to actually see the sun rise, but at least I know I was awake and in my garden at the right time (4.15). Maybe one day when I don’t have to go to work I can go to a place where you can actually see the sun rise.  I had a couple of hours sleep and went to work. It was ok because I don’t start work until 11.00. When I woke up, about 10.00am, it was raining. It rained all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday, and all day today (Thursday). It finally stopped raining at about 9.00pm this evening.
On Tuesday not only did I want to see the sun rise, I also wanted to see it set, so I stayed up and waited for sunset. Officially that was 10.05pm, but it stayed light much later than that, in fact it never actually gets dark at this time of year.  I was awake, and I was looking out of my window, but by that time it was far too wet to go out into the garden. I saw the sun drop below the rooftops through the pouring rain. I am very slowly, weather permitting, revamping my garden this year. I decided a while ago that I wanted a ‘green man’ to hang around my old apple tree in the corner. I looked around but couldn’t see any thing I liked. Then one day while visiting my daughter I saw her huge pile of wood ready to be chopped for the fire. She had what looked like whole trees that had come down in the winds. I saw one tree trunk that had the shape of a face, it had a little chin and cheekbones. So I asked her partner to slice me off a bit with his chain saw, which he did.
While I sat indoors, watching the rain, waiting for the sun to set on the longest day, I started to draw the rough outline of my Green Man onto my specially chosen slice of wood. I had previously bought some ‘dark’ plants. My intention was to plant them out into their own small space on the evening of the solstice. The rain was far too heavy to plant any thing out that evening and all I could do was look at them on the kitchen table and imagine what my ‘dark’ garden will look like when eventually planted.
And that was how I spent the solstice…………….

Tags: summer solstice

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delete reply forelithe wrote on Jun 24, '11 Sounds idyllic to me... I had flu ! My garen is showing the signs of last summer's neglect. I've been transitioning from short lived blooms to colourful and variegated foliage that lasts all season, for several years. Because of my granddaughter Abigail's birth and subsequent death 66 days later my garden just wasn't on the agenda last summer. And was equally neglected in the autumn and this spring when I should have done some hard pruning. So it is reminding me that a garden is a commitment as much as much as anything we love in this life and I must make amends. You did a nice job on your tree man, I have a sun man, will post you a photo if I can figure out how to do that ! Enjoy the sun while you have it; mother nature is certainly pissed off with the lot of us these days and I fear we all have some hard lessons to learn globally.

delete reply agnes128 wrote on Jun 24, '11 A dark garden, what a good idea! And I'd like to see the Green man on his apple tree when it's done. Great way to spend the Summer Solstice, watching the sun.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Jun 24, '11 What a wonderful way to spend it. Well, the rain could have cooperated a bit more. Can't wait to see your 'green man' finished.

delete reply djdx wrote on Jun 24, '11 Lately I have not seen the night since I go to bed before and get up after. We have some sun this morning--maybe you will too. :-)

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Jun 24, '11 Seeing a summer sunrise is a rarity for me, coz I'm usually up so late chatting to Joanne til about 2am. I love how that 'green man' is coming along. Looking forward to seeing your 'dark garden' when it's finally planted.

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Jun 23, '11 Very nice Loretta. Although we brought the Solstice over here in Toronto at Fort York. It was also Aboriginal Day here in Canada. We got to see three native dancers, a women's drum group and the Meti quartet. It went from five pm until about nine-thirty pm. The weather was threatening rain near the end but we all got home from what was a beautiful day. Ingrid and I participated in some of the dancers.

delete reply artprevails wrote on Jun 23, '11 I've returned to look again at your wonderful Green Man. I like how that came to be♥

delete reply veroniquemariquita wrote on Jun 23, '11 Very effective use of that little slab of wood. You will enjoy watching him while he watches over your garden.

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Jun 23, '11 sounds wonderful Loretta

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 23, '11 bennett1 said I love the light at dawn and dusk I love dawn, I love the way it looks, i love the way it feels and i love the way the light spreads over every thing. somehow I feel content and ready to sleep if I can see the dawn and hear the birds first.........

Comment deleted at the request of the author.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 23, '11 veryfrank said hat amazes me, our earliest sunrise is 5:45am At this time of year the official sunrise is sometime between 4.00 - 4.30 but you can see the dawn starting and the first birds start to sing any time after 3.00. Official sunset is after 10.00 but again, it takes until 11.00 - 11.30 or even midnight on a very clear night to reach its darkest. The 'dark' part of the night is between midnight and about 3, when the weather is good and the sky clear even during those hours there is a light haze as you look north. One of the things i love about being here is the shortness of the summer nights.

delete reply rabbitfriendhere wrote on Jun 23, '11 It sounds lovely even with the rain and I love your Green Man! :)

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Jun 23, '11 Our sunrise is 6 am but because I am much farther east than Frank (but in the same time zone), it's really 5 am. I know that it is light out, not twilight, but light, at 5:30. And not dark until 1015. I love the light at dawn and dusk. More at dusk (because I am not a morning person) especially when it takes on a saturated gold tone. What a lovely thing to do. Your bouquet of flowers is exquisite.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Jun 23, '11 forgetmenot525 said I was awake and in my garden at the right time (4.15). That amazes me, our earliest sunrise is 5:45am. I like your green man and the other shots are very nice. My experience with dark plants is that when planted outside, many have a tendency to turn more red or purple. That's fine with me, since I have a preference for that shading or hues anyway.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Jun 23, '11 cool :)

delete reply artprevails wrote on Jun 23, '11 *sigh* This post is calm and lovely and makes me think of how making things stand out in importance is just wonderful. I couldn't have thought of anything better to do on this day.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 23, '11, edited on Jun 23, '11 thank you ladies, glad you like the green Man Deb. Obviously its far from finished but the thing i really like about him is that he is made from 'real' wood and its wood that I saw and chose..........I have to figure out a way to fix him to the tree when he is finished

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Jun 23, '11 i LOVE your GreenMan.....and WTG, getting the dark plants! a perfect Solstice celebration, Loretta.

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Jun 23, '11 Beautiful! :)))