Today is the Summer Solstice. Ari and I drank tea while watching the sun rise from first light. Being subtropical here and the wet season well upon us, there were masses of clouds flaming like coals. They lost all colour just as the sun broke over the horizon. The white noise of the cicadas is so loud that the birds can barely compete. I went for a two hour ride on Surabhi (liver chestnut Arabian mare) in Mebbin Forest, a mix of wet schlerophyll eucalypts on the tops of the hill and rainforest in the gullies - lovely sounds of Wompoo pigeons calling to each other. Saw a poteroo (very small species of kangaroo) hooping away. Caught a glimpse of a really beautiful reddish-gold she-dingo. Now Ari and I are sharing a pot of Russian Caravan tea in Zen-like ceramic mugs. He's reading the newspaper. I expect later we'll head for the beach and a swim in the surf.
How is it for you on your shortest day of the year? Are the trees fully bare? Any snow? Do you have a wood fire to keep cozy?
That sounds lovely and very poetic. We have nothing like that here where I live. Right now it is bleak, barren and cold. The snow we had has melted, but more is on the way. Only a few birds have remained and they are quiet to conserve energy. We see an occasional White-tailed deer since we live near a forested park.
Benedict Arnold 