Happy Summer!

If you’re in the Northern hemisphere, it’s already happened. Summer solstice clocked this year at 5:45 Greenwich Mean Time on June 21 — a bit after midnight on America’s east coast, and 9:45 last night on the west.

The longer days and warmer temperatures, and (if we’re lucky) looser schedules just tend to bring on a sense of relaxation. Our shoulders drop a little and our lungs expand. In Summer, the sun kisses our faces and causes our children’s heights to spurt. It’s the season of wearing less clothing; leaving work earlier; seeing good friends more often, eating fresh, tree-ripened fruit; and spending nights playing games or gazing at stars. In summer, time moves just a little more slowly.

In the Bay Area, unusually warm weather brought out a large crowd at a neighborhood Friday night barbeque and music event called Creekside, where we caught up with old friends at picnic tables by a meandering creek. Yesterday, my daughter and I walked to our errands and bought lemonade from a local stand.

I wish you all a happy, relaxed, fulfilled, sensual Summer, as you enjoy warmth, family, friends, time, nature, play, and maybe a joyful activity or two that somehow gets squeezed out of a typical year.

Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman