Summer Solstice

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive  
We couldn’t go the first day the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive reopened because we were dog-sitting Drogo and don’t like to leave him alone. But today, the second day, we were at the gate a few minutes after 7:00 AM, ready to bird, bird, bird. Lots of galenules, red-winged blackbirds, and great blue herons. Even a least bittern. Plus huge alligators, truly scary. Grant spotted the first one, just its eyes above water, but we could tell it was large. Lots to eat, I guess.

The information says the 11 mile drive takes about 3 hours, but I was sure we could cruise through and be back at our house in time for our 9:30 covenant Zoom meeting. So wrong. Had to meet up via phone. Amazing. This area has the Christmas Bird Count inland record of 174 species, so I suspect that in the winter, I’d better plan on spending the day here, sitting in birder traffic. We are definitely coming back in July, when the swallowtailed kites group up before migrating south.

Patten, 14, and Spaulding, 10
Avebury, March, 2004 
It is the summer solstice, and my congregational women’s group, the Full Moon Daughters, celebrated with the live-streaming of the sunset from Stonehenge. Of course, it was cloudy. When we took the children there in March, 2004, as part of our homeschooling “Romans in England” tour, I remember driving from Heathrow and coming upon the Salisbury Plain, then Stonehenge appearing. It was sitting there all by itself. Not hidden by hotels or theme parks. That’s when I knew I wasn’t in the USA anymore. After admiring the huge rocks from afar, (I think the only time now people are allowed within the henge is during the solstices, when the Druids claim the spaces as their own), we drove on to Avebury where we could see stones up close.

Growing up in south Florida, my children never understood how day length varied, because it doesn’t change very much in the subtropics. We didn’t have extra long summer days, however we also didn’t have short winter days. The kids didn’t care about autumn leaves and snowflakes, which were ubiquitous in school text books. Seasons are wet or dry, not hot or cold. Foliage is lush year round.


I’m right there with them. Attending Georgia Tech in Atlanta was my northern moment. Now I’ve moved north to central Florida. All is relative, ain’t it?

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