Summer Solstice, 2011...

The Summer Solstice occurred on Tuesday, June 21st, at 1:16 PM in the US. The longest day of the year when the sun meets the Tropic of Cancer. Here in Savannah it was the hottest...well the hottest so far. In many ways I wish it turned out to be the hottest (around 100 degrees). I know that here in the deep south, there are days to come that the temperature will rise higher than that. Damn...

The Earth absorbs heat. That means that the first day of summer is actually not the hottest day of the year as some think. In the few days before and after the summer solstice, the earth's oceans and atmosphere act as a 'heat sink', absorbing the intense heat of the solstice. It actually takes several weeks for that heat to be released, causing July and August to be even hotter. "Sol" and "stice" are derived from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" and "to stand still". We in the northern hemisphere are the closest to the sun, where as the southern hemisphere is embarking on their period of winter. I'm wishing I was in the southern hemisphere...

Personally, I am not a fan of the summer. When was I born? July...under the fire sign of Leo. My reigning planet is the sun. Go figure. If I were to rank the four seasons, one being my favorite and four being my least favorite...summer would definitely be number four. I have never had a good relationship with the blazing Sol. No matter what grade of sunblock I put on, I always seem to fry like bacon. That fact has always prompted me to joke that I am part vampire...but not the glittery kind...

From a celebratory standpoint, the summer solstice marks another place on the pagan calendar. Fires are lit, prayers are burned. Renewal is in the air. Sun, fertility, and marriage. Whoopee. I enjoy the onset of a new period of a rebirth, as it were. The heat...I can do without.

To all of the pagans, Blessed be and merry meet. To everyone else. ARGH!

Addendum To Last Post / "Smoke On The Water"...

Since I had gone out for a couple of errands earlier today (it was around 1:00 PM, or so), I was rather surprised when I looked out the glass doors off the kitchen (around 5:45 PM). The smoke in the air was obviously thicker than it had been earlier in the day.

The moment I opened the glass door to go into the screened in porch, I was hit with the strong smell of something burning. It smelled like the biggest bonfire in the world was billowing smoke from close by. Not altogether unpleasant, but very earthy and pungent with smoldering wood. The above picture was taken just in back of the condo here. The tide was obviously out. I think most who view the photo without the knowledge of it being smoke might think it to be fog. Take it from me...it is smoke, and it is thick.

I decided to walk back down to the location of the pictures from my last post for comparison.

Evidence of a change was huge over by the marsh. Usually when I look across the expanse I can see the land on the far side. This particular time I could barely make out anything. It is not apparent in these photos of the bridge, but the cars coming from Tybee Island all had their lights on as testament to the dense haze.

As a final example of what it's like here in Savannah on the Georgia coast, I created a comparison. The photo on your left is an earlier shot. The one on the right is from this evening. No wonder my nose is burning, and I'm suffering from a sinus headache...

Smoke On The Water...

Well, not so thick in the last day or two, but still a bit noticeable. Wild fires have been hitting the south. The first I noticed the change in our air quality was about a week or so ago. I was heading out to run an errand, and was immediately struck by how hazy it was. It was during the mid-morning hours and true it is not uncommon to encounter some mist in the air either due to encroaching rain or just plain old overcast humidity. This was different. I knew on sight that it was smoke. Having lived in Los Angeles, California, for roughly 18 years I have seen more than my share of smoke filled skies due to brush fires. I've even experienced snow fall in the form of ash. That was an odd sensation...driving through Santa Monica and having to utilize my windshield wipers to keep the windshield free of ash. No ash present in my current situation (thankfully). Just varying levels of smokey air.

The first day or two of our smokey skies was apparently due to fires in Florida. More recently, fires roughly 75 to 100 miles south of us have been burning away just this side (the Georgia side) of our border with Florida, a huge blaze in some swamp areas. In a previous post I mentioned the massive storm front we had plow through here a few nights ago. It grumbled, flashed, dumped some much needed rain, and blew over by morning. Was it welcome? Absolutely! Did it help extinguish the fires to the south? Unfortunately, no. The fires blaze on.

The marsh here always expresses a mood of one kind or another. The climate has been hot and muggy, the southern humidity making it's presence known as it always does in summer. This year there is a slight difference. The brilliant blue of the sky is up there, but it's only clearly seen upon higher scrutiny. The grey and amber haze of the wild fires has created a muted layer of lethargy that hugs the horizon line. However, this too shall pass.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that these fires will be extinguished before they spread.

Lunar Eclipse & Full Moon...Both of Which I Missed...

(Almost Full Moon, June 14, 2011 ~ Photo: Lisa Erin Brown)

Today was not only a Full Moon in the sign of Sagittarius, it was also a total lunar eclipse. Regretfully, the eclipse took place during daytime hours here in the US, so I had to miss witnessing it for myself. I was only able to experience June's Full Moon last night when it was a mere percentage point or so away from full. The moon reached it's complete orb status this afternoon during daylight hours here, so I wasn't able to see it. No viewing of the actual full moon. No viewing of the total lunar eclipse. Was looking forward to seeing more of a close-to-full moon tonight, but our skies became cloudy as dusk fell. A massive storm front came barreling into Savannah a few moments ago and has started dumping rain on us in a fury. A huge clap of thunder just shook the nearby window glass in it's frame. Rain is another thing I absolutely love and as Savannah appears to be headed into a period of drought it is extremely welcome. Didn't get to see the moon tonight, but the rain is a more than fair trade.

On to today's Full Moon in Sagittarius. I do a lot of reading during these times. Although the various astrological forecasts I read have similarities, the many and varied authors of these reports impart their own impressions. Some write from a more technical perspective naming planets and their places in the grand scheme of it all..."lunation axis", "natal charts", ascending this and transitioning that. I find it all interesting and informative, but sometimes I just want to read a simple, comprehensive approach to what the particular moon position and accompanying sign means for the particular time concerned.

This is an amalgamation of forecasts I've read for this full moon period. It's pretty concise, but just think of it as a Reader's Digest version. These days that's what I'm kind of looking for. My arthritis (which I feel I'm too young to be plagued with) has been flaring in my right hand (my dominant one), so I haven't been feeling the best. Short and to the point is where I'm at.

With Sagittarius we are passing through a time of reflection and expansion. A time to look within ourselves to heal. To see past our individual struggles and learn from them. To stop pointing a finger of blame elsewhere. Look squarely at what is bugging us, deal with it, and move on. Let go of all that needless negativity. When you let something go, take a good look at how it got tangled up inside you in the first place. Do you have automatic internal devices that you throw out to defend yourself, or are you just keeping life at bay to avoid dealing with it? I think we all do that to an extent. Now is the time to really look at how you cope with things and make some serious changes. Whatever is throwing up walls, identify it, face it, and toss it away so you can move on. I've got my share of that stuff, and had been going through that mental process before I even read any of the forecasts. Funny how stuff like that happens.

The other thing that kept popping up was that there could very well be communication issues within various relationships. For the coming few months it was advised that we really need to stop, consider what we say, and how we say it. Many of the forecasts also said to be prepared for things to start coming to the surface to be dealt with. It won't be easy, but facing them and working them to resolution so they can be released is the way to go. In my experience, anything that needs to be consciously "released" isn't going to be easy to process. If it was something easy to deal with, it would have passed by unnoticed.

Finally, this is a time of completion and change. Things may seem to be blowing up in our faces, but it's important to sift through everything and brush off the not so pleasant pieces that may be there to see the important aspects and facilitate change through those. Things may fall apart, and the accompanying emotions may be difficult to handle, but it's important to feel them and maybe even teach ourselves new ways to process those things we find the most difficult. The sense I got is that we are going to go through a mental, emotional, and spiritual internal housecleaning whether we want to or not, but by working through all of it we'll learn some much needed lessons and come out the other side with a new perspective.

We had the partial lunar eclipse of June 1st; the total lunar eclipse of June 15th (today); next up up is a partial lunar eclipse on July 1st. The next partial eclipse of July 1st will be during the new moon in Cancer that falls on the same day.

Now I think I'll go enjoy some of the storm.

I Have Returned...

I have been slightly absent from my blog as of late. Was taking a little time to start a photo blog on Tumblr. It appears to be a great venue for the posting of pictures, but I started to feel old. Rather quickly, too. You follow people and are followed much like you are here in the world of Blogger. The difference? As far as I can tell the large majority of Tumblr-ers are young. Well, younger than me, anyway. A lot of young girls/gals smitten with teen idols long past and present. I'm not in the market for participation in an online version of interactive Tiger Beat Magazine, so my time on Tumblr is looking like it will be short lived. Oh well. I have my blog here. I'm very glad to be redirecting my time and energy back here where it belongs.
There is no particular reason for this post other than to say I am still around. I have a couple of posts brewing so more is to come.
The poem below has no other purpose than to share a piece by my favorite poet, Pablo Neruda. The majority of his work is really romantic. Steamy even. If you ever have need of a poem to give your love, his work will definitely fill your needs. This particular poem, "Cat's Dream", is not necessarily romantic, but it is a favorite of mine.
Enjoy.

Cat's Dream

by Pablo Neruda

How neatly a cat sleeps,

sleeps with its paws and its posture,

sleeps with its wicked claws,

and with its unfeeling blood,

sleeps with all the rings--

a series of burnt circles--

which have formed the odd geology

of its sand-colored tail.

I should like to sleep like a cat,

with all the fur of time,

with a tongue rough as flint,

with the dry sex of fire;

and after speaking to no one,

stretch myself over the world,

over roofs and landscapes,

with a passionate desire

to hunt the rats in my dreams.

I have seen how the cat asleep

would undulate, how the night

flowed through it like dark water;

and at times, it was going to fall

or possibly plunge into

the bare deserted snowdrifts.

Sometimes it grew so much in sleep

like a tiger's great-grandfather,

and would leap in the darkness over

rooftops, clouds and volcanoes.

Sleep, sleep cat of the night,

with episcopal ceremony

and your stone-carved moustache.

Take care of all our dreams;

control the obscurity

of our slumbering prowess

with your relentless heart

and the great ruff of your tail.

R.I.P. James Arness...

Known to many as sheriff Matt Dillon on TV's western series "Gunsmoke", actor James Arness died today of natural causes at the age of 88. (For the next time you play Trivial Pursuit, Arness was brother to another actor, Peter Graves, who did in March of last year of a heart attack at age 83.)

As I said, most know him for his role on "Gunsmoke", but I remember him for a classic science fiction film called "The Thing From Another World" (since I'm a sci-fi geek). At a tall 6'6", Arness was quite effective as the thawed out alien. Thought I would give James a parting nod, and share this nicely put together video based on the film that I found on YouTube. The movie was later re-made by director John Carpenter..."The Thing" starring Kurt Russell. The re-make is a great film in it's own right, but the original is well worth a look if you haven't seen it. Classic.

No Moon On Monday...

The absence of the moon in the sky gives everything a moodier feel. I know that the celestial orb is hanging up there per usual, but as with every new moon we can't see it with the naked eye. Shadows caused by the moon's glow aren't present at these times. There are plenty of dark spaces...they are just created by absence of light rather than the shadows caused by the directed light of a partial to full moon. These times are equally as mystical and mysterious as when the moon is in full glow, projecting the sun's fire from the other side of the planet.

The sky was a beautiful shade of blue on my short evening walk. Without the moon's beams, the trees looked flat, and one-dimensional. They looked like they had been meticulously cut from black felt and laid against the sky.

The only immediate light sources were of an electrical nature. Headlights of cars in the distance as they made their way back from Tybee Island (it was Memorial Day's end). The few street lamps dotting the drive through the condos, accompanied by a sprinkling of porch lights. Whenever I go out for a stroll, I'm usually looking up in admiration of the moon and the stars. Since the moon was on break I focused more on my immediate vicinity down here on planet earth.

I am not a big fan of the camera flash. I do use it from time to time, but I prefer to turn it off. For me the flash negates so much of a scenes feel. When I see something that moves me to photograph it, I want to capture what I see. The camera's flash can kill a shot for me. It blows away the elements I wanted to grab, so that I could experience them again later. However, there are times in the darker hours of the day when turning the flash off can get tricky. There is an ability one needs to possess to take 'clean' pictures. To avoid them being fuzzy. You need to be able to hold the camera rock steady. I, unfortunately, do not have that skill. Unless I'm using the tripod, the 'fuzz' will be there.

I was on my way back home when I decided to snap a few more pictures. The lights dotting the condos in front of me proved to be difficult to capture clearly because of the various light sources. (The picture above is a cleaner shot of where I was headed.) I decided to play a little, and came up with some more abstract photos that I have posted below. I think they're kind of interesting...