The Longest Day of the Year
June 19, 2003

Summer officially begins this weekend! Typically, the first day of summer is June 21, and this year is no exception. The summer solstice occurs this Saturday, June 21, at 2:10 PM CDT. This will be the longest day of the year, in terms of daylight hours.

We know it will be the longest day because that is the day that our sun reaches its northern most point in the celestial sphere, and since we live in the Northern Hemisphere, we will see the most sunlight on that day.

The word “solstice” itself is Latin for “sun stands still.” For several days before and after the summer solstice, the sun appears to stand still in the sky—that is, its noontime elevation does not seem to change. So this Saturday will be our longest day of the year.

This is all rather complicated for many, but there are easier ways to tell whether you are going to experience a long day. So as a public service announcement, let me offer some additional signs that you are going to have a long day.

For parents, you can know that you are going to have a long day… if you receive a phone call from one of your children that starts off like this: “First of all, let me say that no one got hurt…” The similar corollary for teenagers-- You know you’re going to have a long day… if your parents reply “You may not be hurt now, but you are going to be in a world of hurt when you get home!”

For husbands, you know that it will be a long day (and a short night)… if your wife wakes you up in the morning by giving you a present and saying “Happy Anniversary!” …and you thought it was next week!

For singles, you know that you’re in for a long day … if you attend a family reunion with a new boyfriend or girlfriend and every conversation with the relatives turns to the subject of marriage. It gets even longer if they keep calling you by the name of the previous boyfriend or girlfriend.

Another for parents-- You know it’s going to be a long day when you take your kids and their friends to the amusement park, only to find out too late that little Johnny is afraid to ride most of the rides, and even throws up on the merry-go-round.

You know it’s going to be a long day, and get even longer… when you go out in the morning and find a flat tire on your wife’s car, …when you find out that the spare is also flat, …when your wife has been telling you that the tire was low in the first place, and has been asking you to get it fixed before it went flat, …when you then have to go and tell your wife that she can’t drive her car, …when she then tells you that she has car pool this week, and that you are now going to be driving all the kidnicks to school.

You can also know that it will be a long day… when you’re driving your kid to school and they suddenly remember that they were supposed to bring homemade refreshments for the entire class at story time.

And finally, you know that it’s going to be a long day when you’re at the doctor’s office and he snaps on the latex gloves and grabs a flashlight. (I think “latex” is Latin for “degradation”.)

Obviously, there are many other ways to know that you are in store for a long day, but I don’t have all day long to sit around and lay them all out for you. Just remember that a good attitude will help you make short work of those long days. Good luck as you face the long summer days ahead!

© Copyright 2003 Glen Davis