Let’s Enjoy Summer

Last Wednesday, at 12:24 AM, the Summer Solstice occurred. That’s it folks, it’s a downhill slide to winter from this point on. If you are reading this post when it is published, you can expect one less minute of daylight than you had last Wednesday. If you wait until Friday to read this, you’ll have given up three minutes. By the time the Autumnal Equinox arrives at 4:02 PM on Friday, September 22, we will be losing about three minutes of daylight – every – single – day.

I don’t want to be a gloomy Gus, that Equinox is almost 90 days away, and that only brings us to the halfway point. It’s not quite time to dust off the snow shovel. I’m focused on this because our winter was mild but unpredictable, and our spring was a cold wet mess. Summer, all 90 days of it, better be better than its two sibling seasons.

90 days is plenty of time for long weekends and weeks off. Plenty of time for walks with Maddie, rides on my bike and, if things work out, new siding on my garage. There’s a Fireman’s Carnival being set-up as I write this, and I’ll have plenty of daylight to eat a sausage grinder and drink a beer before it’s torn down. There will be a dozen or so Saturdays when I can watch a little baseball with my buddy at the bar – you know, research. There’s probably over 40 hours sitting in the back yard, tethered to a 100% content Irish Setter.

In addition to the bunnies, Maddie and I will be watching a garden grow. Then, the Mrs. will be picking some veggies and preparing treats like fresh vegetables and pasta or just a sliced tomato on a buttered English muffin for breakfast. Yes, Maddie, I know, you like green beans. I’m sure you’ll get your share. There’ll be a few thunderstorms, a few gray days and at least one blistering spell of hot and humid weather – probably the week I start that siding project – if New England’s weather holds true.

There are lots of work days between now and the end of September but, at least until Labor Day, we can wear jeans in the office. Other good news is that the Eaglets that are keeping the lower half of the Windsor Locks Canal closed should fledge and no longer need the seclusion of their own private forest.

It’s a glorious time, and I think Mother Nature is going to cooperate. I’d say she owes us a good summer, but I don’t want to p*ss her off. The gallery includes some photos of the evidence I collected this weekend. Click on any photo to start a slide show. The captions tell the stories.

Little cukes and (greenhouse, but local) tomatoes – fresh from the farm stand.

They were grown in a greenhouse, but it was a local farm’s greenhouse, so…

Fresh strawberries. We’ve been picking at these all day.

Too bad you can’t eat these.

Squish – What? I say that’s the plural form of squash.

OK, so dessert happened early. Fresh peaches and strawberries, I mean…

In a week, this path will be closed for a couple of days. That’s the Beer Garden a.k.a. where I’ll be eating my hot sausage grinder.

Almost ready for burgers and dogs. No Maddie, not thay kind of dog.

Fresh peas – I think they’re gone, but they were good.

GiGi’s – The farm stand is open :)

Upper left – tiny bunny. Maddie is focused, but chillen’

At the bar. Appetizer was Blue Point Oysters – hard to resist

Upper right. Hard to find but there’s a bunny in there. Just ask Maddie.

The eagles had two babies this year. Photo from State of CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection