Today is the day when the sun reaches its highest point and when daylight is longest. I celebrated the winter solstice with other women who walk. Now midsummer is here and I'll be out tonight with another small crew of five or six fellow travellers.
We're walking based on a select tour of nominated oddities from the Stirchley mapping project. Maybe we'll end up at the 'entrance to hell' pin. Maybe not. But as the sun sets there shall be rituals – the popping of a Prosecco cork, maybe a live-stream of the Solstice at Stonehenge, a poetic prompt perhaps or the gathering of herbs, but certainly midsummer merriments.
Originally the plan was to get on a train to Milton Keynes – where the streets align with the sunrise on the summer solstice – and walk from sunset to sunrise. Coronavirus killed that plan. But I hear my neighbour is cycling through the night. And we shall try to find our own alignment of Stirchley streets with the sun.
Happy Summer Solstice to all those who celebrate it.
Here is my 100 sunrises and sunsets post for more chunky reading tonight – written back in February when Covid-19 was a distant nightmare. And here is the slideshow:
Today I am thankful for doing absolutely nothing and having a much-needed lie-in and also an afternoon nap.
Commission/hire me: fiona [at] fionacullinan.com
We made it! Very grateful. 🧡