Wednesday, June 20, 2012 | Summer Solstice

A Celebration of the Sun!  Woohoo! Finally…Wednesday is the 1st official day of Summer! Sometimes referred to as “Midsummer” Litha” – this is the longest day of the year and the shortest night.  More than 15 hours of sunlight. The sun is the highest it ever gets in the sky today at high noon.  June 20, 2012 is the meteorological start of summer – marking the heat, the sweat, the humidy. It’s time to slow down, relax and enjoy vacations, great weather, lazy days with family & friends, BBQs, the outdoors, the beach, music, baseball, and everything else that goes along with the most favorite season of the year! Grab your favorite beverage and enjoy the daylight, because for many of us it is way too short. Soon after the summer solstice, the length of daylight will grow shorter each day until the winter solstice in December, when the shortest amount of daylight occurs.  Did you know?…

SUNRISE  5:35 AM

SUNSET 8:33 PM

Did You Know?

• In temperate regions,  the Sun is higher in the sky throughout the day, and its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer
• The sun does not set at the North Pole today. There is  24 hours of sunlight. Does it make up for that cold day in December when the sun does not rise above the horizon? No, but on this day it sure does feel good wherever you are!
• Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning “sun” + “to stand still”.  As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.
• The Northern Hemisphere celebrates in June, but the people on the Southern half of the earth have their longest summer day in December.