Friday Follies - Summer Solstice

This week was the solstice - winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere and summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.  It's too depressing to talk about the one I'm enduring at the moment.  I would rather focus on the summer solstice - the time of long days and short nights.  Quite honestly, it always felt a bit magical.

Growing up on the prairies, winter was dark and gloomy (and cold!), broken only by the bright lights and colours of the Christmas season.  Everyone looked forward to summer and the long days, with the light lasting well until 10 or 11 o'clock at night and the night never really getting dark.  How I miss those days.  We don't get to experience this in Australia - the days are longer in summer, but nothing like a prairie summer day.

It must have been a challenge as a parent, trying to put your toddlers to bed while the sun is still shining bright.  I can remember Mum and Dad trying to tuck us into bed, dark curtains drawn.  We certainly didn't feel tired, you could hear the sound of lawnmowers mowing and kids still playing outside.  You know, the kids that didn't have MEAN parents like we apparently did.

Long summer days for Mum

Who doesn't love summer?

As we grew older, you just learned to appreciate all of this extra time.  It wasn't really 'extra', but it certainly felt like it.  You could get so much more accomplished.  Of course, this time of year meant that the sun came up really early too, but it didn't seem to matter.  There was a renewed energy and joy of life.  Spring and summer on the prairies were just there to be enjoyed and cherished before the long, cold winter came.  A short period of time to cram in a whole lot of outdoors enjoyment.

As soon as the temperature hits above zero, pasty white legs can be spotted sprouting from the bottom of shorts.   The owners of the legs mistaken in their thoughts that this was warm weather and to be embraced.  You were always guaranteed to see someone in summer attire while there was still a nip in the air, and brown, dirty snow melting in the gutters.  The restaurants and coffee shops dusted off their outdoor tables and chairs and crammed them onto the sidewalk, soon to be filled by eager thawing Albertan bottoms.  When you live in what seems like eternal winter, sitting outside to enjoy a meal is something special.  I still haven't lost this - even now, living in Queensland, I still absolutely love sitting outside at a restaurant.  It still feels like a rare treat.

During my late teens, early 20's (what I like to call the Bar Years), it was always a surprise to leave the club at closing time and discover that the sun was close to coming up.  The trek home was never direct.  A much-needed stop at Boston Pizza was usually in order to top up the tummy before arriving home about 4 am.  And the sun was starting to glow on the horizon.  It felt a bit odd to walk into the house after a night out (and it was still night, wasn't it?) with the sun rising, and of course your mother was already up, having her first coffee of the day. 

The actual BP in Sherwood Park that we frequented

I realise now that I am in the midst of 'The Change' and that waking up ridiculously early is one of the trappings of this time of my life. That would have been Mum and she would have been the age that I am now. Despite trying to avoid it, I think I've just depressed myself.  I'm off to Google cute cat videos.....