In the dark green shadows of the deep woods, an hour before moonrise, they met in secret. Soon the longest day would become the shortest night of the solstice.
Dance Upon The Air
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Raymond Norris [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
This year, the summer solstice falls on June 20 in the northern hemisphere and is celebrated across the world. In the northern hemisphere, the solstice heralds the beginning of summer and in the southern hemisphere, the beginning of winter. Here are some interesting facts about the day when the Earth is actually the farthest from the Sun.
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The moon was nearly full. It would be fat and round by the weekend, and the solstice.
And a full moon on the solstice meant bounty, and promise.
And the rites of fertility that lead to harvest.
“Last year I went to Ireland for the solstice,” he told her. “There’s a small stone dance there, in County Cork. It’s more intimate than Stonehenge. The sky stays light until nearly ten, and when it begins to fade, toward the end of the longest day, the stones sing.”
Face The Fire