mid-year beginnings

Last week was the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere — the day with the longest period of daylight and the shortest night of the year, when the sun is at its highest position in the sky. The summer solstice has been important to me for a long time, because — completely coincidentally — Marcus and I married on the summer solstice twenty-two years ago.

(Happy anniversary to us!)

In any event, the summer solstice has meant “beginnings” to me, ever since, even though it happens in the middle of the year. (It’s also the beginning of Cancer season, and even though I know very little about astrology and am something of an astrology skeptic, I do know that I’m a Cancer with Cancer Rising, so maybe my fondness of the summer solstice has something to do with that? Any astrologists out there who know?)

I’m keenly feeling the “beginnings” thing this year. The actual start of 2024 was a time of some professional and personal change — I’d just quit a salary-paying job, and Alex transferred to a new university in a new city, and we were busy settling her in. And I realized the other day that it has only been in recent weeks that I’m starting to feel something resembling a rhythm. I’m finally feeling like I’m making some progress on what I need to accomplish this year.

I could feel guilty about it taking until almost July to get into a groove, but hey — summer solstice is about beginnings too, right? I mean, Celtic people and Scandinavians say so, so I figure if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for the rest of us.

So happy belated Summer Solstice, my friends. This week, may we all see a glimpse of cadence and rhythm, and realize that beginnings can happen at any time — even in the middle of a calendar year.

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