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15d (edited) • Roots & Renaissance
How to Mark the Summer Solstice ~ Even If You Missed It
Part 6 of the Summer Solstice series
If you want to acknowledge the Solstice ~ even late, which is fine, because the turn is still fresh and the recognition matters more than the calendar date:
𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲. Walk your yard, your garden, your neighborhood. What is at maximum expression right now? What is producing more than can be consumed?
𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. The earliest spring crops ~ lettuce, radishes, peas ~ are bolting or finished. Some things have already passed their peak while others are still climbing. The turn doesn't happen uniformly. It's specific. Plant by plant, system by system.
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. Dry herbs at their most potent. Make a jar of something fermented. Freeze fruit. The simplest preservation act connects you to the functional logic of this moment ~ converting peak abundance into future sustenance.
𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹. Not everything at peak requires harvesting. Some of it completes its cycle on the ground. Practicing the release ~ watching fruit drop without the impulse to rescue every one, is its own form of seasonal literacy.
𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘂𝗽 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆. The Solstice is about light at its longest. Even a few days past, the difference between the earliest light and the latest dark is still extraordinary. Give that your attention for one day. Notice how much light there actually is. Build the memory of it.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
The Solstice already happened. The turn is already underway. And that is not a loss.
It is the wheel doing what it does ~ reaching the fullest point and beginning the necessary curve toward rest, toward dark, toward the contraction that makes the next expansion possible.
The question this threshold poses is not "how do I keep this going?" It is: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱?
What can you preserve now that will sustain you later?
What can you share because you have more than you can hold?
What can you release because not everything at peak is yours to keep?
And where can you simply be present for the fullness ~ without trying to extend it, without mourning its passing, without missing it entirely because you were too busy to look up?
The plums are falling. The light is turning. The year pivots here, at the place of most.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦?
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 ~ 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯?
✦ 𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 ~ 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯. 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥:
Thermal Lag, Midsummer Fire, and the Abundance You Can’t Consume
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How to Mark the Summer Solstice ~ Even If You Missed It
