"...And The Summer Comes At Last."

In the Northern Hemisphere the great arc of the sun reaches its highest point in the sky today. It is the longest day of the year and the beginning of Summer. Tomorrow the solar arc begins its slow retreat toward the southern horizon. Although daylight will decrease the accumulation of heat will continue to raise atmospheric temperatures until late July. As this day marks the end of the season of renewal and the beginning of the season of growth and flower some words and music come to mind.

Summer In The South

The oriole sings in the greening grove

  As if he were half-way waiting,

  The rosebuds peep from their hoods of green,

  Timid, and hesitating.

The rain comes down in a torrent sweep

  And the nights smell warm and pinety,

The garden thrives, but the tender shoots

  Are yellow-green and tiny.

Then a flash of sun on a waiting hill,

  Streams laugh that erst were quiet,

The sky smiles down with a dazzling blue

  And the woods run mad with riot.

Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1903

Sources:

Title quote, Robert Burns's poem, The Winter It Is Past