Solstice

Skywatch

It's here ... the longest day of the year.

Today, June 20th, marks the longest day of the year
in the Northern Hemisphere.

Solstice Sigh

The sun today won’t take a hint,

It lingers long, with golden glint.

But I, moon-minded, seek the night,

With silver beams and softer light.

 

Let others praise this sunlit spree—

I’ll wait for dusk to comfort me.

For when the daylight starts to wane,

The moon and stars shall rise again.

Let's celebrate the moon. 😘 

Lunar Calendar Wheel Poster
created by Heart of the Earth Arts
Check out the artist on Instagram

Zoomed in on the present moment on the poster.
Northern Hemisphere Summer Solstice
June 20, 2025

I saw this poster advertised in the Old Farmer's Almanac and fell in love with it immediately. It's been up on my wall since early this year. It's a delightful way to see the lunar phases all year long. I double checked a few days with TimeAndDate.com and it's right on.

Critters and Stamps

It's especially fun when 2 hobbies align ... interest in wildlife and stamp collecting.  How do you like these First Day Covers from the 1981 American Wildlife series of US Postage stamps? Which one is your favorite? ...

Puma
[Click on image for better view.]

Bison

Brown Bear

Elk

Polar Bear

In 1981 first class postage in the United States was 18 cents from March to November. Each stamp above is 18 cents, and the postal cancel mark was added at Boise, Idaho.

One of my favorite "critter" stamps is the Forever issued in 2011 for Oweny, the Postal Service Dog. 

Read the history of Owney,
the Postal Dog and
Mascot of the Railway Mail Service

Before we leave the Critter department, a couple of recent shots of my hummers ...

Afternoon snack time.

Hummingbirds belong to the family Trochilidae,
which contains around 366 different species.
My hummers are known as Anna's.

On the Water

On an early, sunny morning, the Royal Caribbean
Anthem of the Seas arrives in Seattle.

After the ship docks, I put the binoculars on the ship.
Yes, the big screen is correct.  😊

From the Archives ...

I am so disappointed in my Government and the way they have been treating my favorite neighboring country:  Canada. To my many fellow bloggers in Canada ... one thing I know for sure ... Most Americans love Canada as I do. 

September 13, 2009, I visited Peace Arch Park 
on the US/Canada border north of Seattle.
The arch is an impressive sight with these words:
Children of a Common Mother

Closing thought from Farmer Frank found in the Old Farmer's Almanac ...

“I talk to the sun when I need sun. I talk to the clouds when I need clouds, and the rain, and the moon and the stars, I talk to all of Mother Nature’s creations. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t, but at least they know my intentions."  

Farmer Frank

Thanks for stopping by John's Island and a happy Summer to you. (Or Winter, if you're down South 😊)

Linking up with Eileen's Saturday's Critters. Check it out! 

Taking Off

 

Summer is "taking off" today just like this
Great Blue Heron I recently spotted on
one of my waterfront walks.

As I'm preparing this post, I have just a couple of hours until the Official beginning of Summer, also known as the Summer Solstice.  Maximum daylight in the Northern Hemisphere and minimum daylight in the Southern Hemisphere. After today, the days will get shorter every day until the Winter Solstice in December.

Get info about Solstice
timeanddate.com

The Great Blue Heron just before take off.

Have you ever had this happen ... While working on some storage, taking pictures of boxes, and stuff in them, I had my camera set to capture the smallest size image since I didn't need a lot of detail. Then, I FORGOT to reset the camera for high quality images while on my walk. That's what happened with the Heron photos. So, sorry the quality isn't great, but I like those pics enough to share them anyway. 😊

More Birds

Taken through my kitchen window, I believe this is an
American Bushtit. He/she was sitting in a bush (naturally enough)
and kept chattering to me while I was trying to cook up dinner.
Finally, I grabbed the camera and snapped a photo.
She/he seemed happy about that.

Mr and Mrs Mallard seen down at the waterfront.

Count 'em ... 6
Males and Females side by side.
Mallards in resting mode.

Check out Saturday's Critters

Nature

One day I was leaving home for an errand when I happened to look
just along the driveway and spotted the pretty plant on the left.
I thought to myself, wow, nature is so amazing producing that
pretty little plant between a concrete wall and a concrete 
driveway. I guess nature was listening ... A few days later 
I looked at the same spot and nature had added some
pretty yellow blooms. Nature is amazing!

Totem pole honoring the American Natives
who lived here by the Seattle waterfront
before it was even a city. A pretty morning
indeed. 

Yesterday (June 19th) while out in the neighborhood,
I happened to notice this "round-about" and thought,
wow, what a nice job someone did planting the
flowers. Someone deserves a high-five for this!

If you live in Seattle, I hope you enjoy clouds.
I do love them and on this day just had to snap
a picture. Clouds over Puget Sound.
June 16, 2024

Marine Activity

Spotted on my waterfront walk, these are vessels taking
tourists for a ride around Elliott Bay.

On the left, spotted from home, a giant crane being moved
around by 2 tugs.  On the right, the Pacific Arrow, a vessel
that moves Pilots around and takes care of Official
Port Business.

The cruise ship season is well underway.
I like to be up early and enjoy a cup of coffee 
watching the ships arrive. Most of these ships
are doing round-trips to Alaska.
This vessel is the Ovation of the Seas.

Closing thought ...

I receive a daily email with "inspirational" quotations.
I thought this one was kind of strange. I mean, you do
know the story of Amelia Earhart, don't you?

Thanks for stopping by and a happy Summer to you!

Summer Solstice 2023

Hello everyone and welcome to John's Island. 

In this post ...

    ➤ Today is the longest day of the year

    ➤ A Cottonwood tree nature experiment

    ➤ Kilauea eruption

    ➤ 2 Months of change on waterfront walk

    ➤ Natural wonders

    ➤ Ship pics, just for fun

    ➤ Looking back 20 years ago

    ➤ Closing thought

Longest Day of the Year

Wed, Jun 21, 2023 7:57 AM

At 7:57AM, this morning in Seattle, Washington, USA, the moment of Solstice will occur. Today's sunlight is ... 15 hours, 54 minutes, 10 seconds ... the exact amount of time between sunrise and sunset in Seattle. Tomorrow will actually be 3 seconds shorter and everyday will continue to get shorter until the December Solstice.

The June solstice is the moment the Sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere. This is the northernmost latitude it reaches during the year. After the solstice, it begins moving south again.

Since the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun in June, it receives more sunlight during the course of a day. The North Pole's tilt toward the Sun is greatest at the solstice, so this event marks the longest day of the year north of the equator.

This effect is greatest in locations that are farther away from the equator. In tropical areas, the longest day is just a little longer than 12 hours; in the temperate zone, it is significantly longer; and places within the Arctic Circle experience Midnight Sun or polar day, when the Sun does not set at night.

Cottonwood Nature Experiment

Cottonwood trees are plentiful in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, out on a walk, cottonwood seeds floated around me almost looking like snow. This year the trees seemed to have an extra abundance of seeds and the scene, like a snow in June, piqued my curiosity. I wondered, of the millions of seeds, what percentage actually germinate and establish a new Cottonwood tree. I decided to try a Nature Experiment and see if I could get some trees started. Here are a few pictures telling the story ...  [PS I'll be the first to acknowledge that most humans find these trees annoying when the seeds begin to fall. However, for me, nature's amazing method of propagating the trees overcomes the annoyance.]

Cottonwood seeds floating away from the
the tree that produced them.

Lots of seeds on this tree.
Ready to drift away.

Each seed is attached to a bit of fuzz that looks
just like cotton. They drift slowly away from
the parent tree.

Seeds accumulate along walkways.

Seeds are produced in bunches on little stems.

A cottonwood leaf and a couple of seeds.

A handful of seeds.

One tiny seed.

2 days after planting the seeds
and keeping them watered.

7 days after planting the seeds.
Cottonwood trees on the way!

14 days after planting.
Be sure to see the large view.
Slow but on the way.

21 days after planting.
Note how the tiny leaves have already
started to get that jagged edge.

Here is the goal ... Get the seedlings up a couple of inches
and transplant them to a location riverside, where,
hopefully they will thrive.
[In this photo from the web, note how the tiny
seedlings look. I'm amazed at how many germinated!]

June 7th - Kilauea

Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupted
on June 7
[Screenshot from AccuWeather]

2 Months of Change on Waterfront Walk

Around April 1 the powers in control
buzzed away most of the vegetation at this
popular spot on the walk.

I am amazed at how fast the plants and grass
have come back. 

Natural Wonders

Mt Rainier as seen from the waterfront walk.
The mountain is about 50 miles away.
June 4, 2023

At an intersection near home.
Yes, another Natural Wonder, in my mind.
This is a busy street, but at the moment, I was
stopped at a traffic signal. I happened to notice
this little spot and what nature had done with it.
It's kind of like a message to humans ... throw it
at me and I'll clean it up. Thank you,
Nature!

A few ship pics just for fun ...

I like this picture ... it's a nice view of scale ...
the average sailboat vs the MSC Container ship.

I like this picture ... it's something I see almost every
Sunday morning. A tug pulling a barge from Alaska.
I'm always curious about how a tug Captain decides
how long the tow will be to the barge. This one
is several hundred feet.

Busy weekend afternoon in the port of Seattle.
In front ... Discovery Princess
Next ... Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam
Next ... A bulk carrier at anchor, in process of refueling
Out in the middle of The Sound ... The Victoria Clipper
Near center ... mast of M5 ... see next picture. 

The M5 -- World's tallest single-masted sailing yacht!
This is the 2nd year the M5 has visited Seattle.
See YouTube video below for details.
[Not my video but I really like it. 😊 ]

20 Years Ago

I've kept most of my digital photos since 2001, a decade before starting John's Island. So, I've decided to go back and pick out some memories to share over the next few posts. The following four pics are all from 20 years ago, 2003 ...

Seattle skyline from Kerry Park
February, 2003

Enjoyed a stay in Hawaii
March, 2003

Visited Yellowstone National Park
and snapped this photo of 
Great Falls of the Yellowstone
July, 2003

Discovered a Rattlesnake while in Montana
July, 2003
[Added this pic for my ticket to link up
with Saturday's Critters. Check it out!]

Closing Thought ...

     “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

            Wayne W. Dyer

Weather Update

Sunday - June 25 2023

Ten Hottest Cities (500K+) Today