As the UK is so far North, AND because my house faces East, I have been particularly struck by the long days. Yesterday was the Summer Solstice which was its earliest in more than 100 years. The last time the June solstice fell on June 20 was in 1896, a time when Queen Victoria ruled England and the first modern Olympic Games took place. It was also a leap year, like 2008.
The June solstice occurs when the sun is at its furthest point from the equator – it reaches its northernmost point and the earth’s North Pole tilts directly towards the sun, at about 23.5 degrees. According to Swinburne University of Technology, if the earth's rotation was at right angles to the plane of its orbit around the sun, there would be no solstice days and no seasons.
The June solstice day has the longest hours of daylight for those living north of the Tropic of Cancer. Yesterday's sunrise was 452am and sunset at 931pm. Add to that the sky is light 30 minutes prior to sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset, it's no wonder I am having trouble sleeping! I think it's the combination of the sunshine hitting my face and the immediate heating of my bedroom that takes place when the sunshine hits the window! It goes from the low 60s to 75 degrees Fahrenheit almost instantly! It even moves Allie off of the bed to seek a cooler, shadier place to sleep.
The solstice marks the first day of the summer [yay!]. The word solstice comes from the Latin word "solstitium", meaning "sun-stopping" because the point at which the sun appears to rise and set stops and reversed direction after this day. The sun is now rising to the north of east and sets to the north of west.
New Words or Phrases:
Pants - after a frustrating journey by car, one of my staff members told me that, "traffic is pants!" Of course, I thought this was a typo. Nope. The congestion was significant causing slow motoring speeds and additional journey time. Basically, the experience was crap.
Whiz that - means to send something electronically
Beyond the tin box - think outside the box, be creative
Rubber windmill - participate in a learning simulator
Critical friend - to have an executive coach
When I was returning into town yesterday afternoon on the A-roads [country roads], I saw two things: 1st - traffic on the M-5 was completely stopped due to accidents in both directions and I was happy to not be stuck on the motorway, and 2nd - a circus has come into town and is set up on the field where the Carnival was last weekend. I can now hear Michael Jackson's, "Beat it" blasting in the valley, so I'm going to have to go check it out. Have a great weekend, all!
