It rises each morning, every day of my life and yours. It never takes a day off or calls in sick. It suffers complaints— “it’s too hot!” — yet is often praised — “It feels so good.” Here on the westside of LA it is searched for during "June Gloom" every morning for most of the month. It is the center of our solar system.
This beautiful yellow star gives the earth its energy and gives me a warm smile every day. In the summer, my favorite season, it gives me that iconic sense of joy, happiness and celebration. Its absence, disappearing under the horizon, causes night. It is the SUN. Central, constant — and utterly necessary.
The summer solstice tomorrow is my way of celebrating the sun’s ascent and our survival.
Sol + stice originates from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still." As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky, bestowing its brilliance, reminding us of its singularity, and beckoning us to acknowledge the gift of life.
