Okay, it’s not really the first day of summer.
But, it’s Memorial Day, and today I had a cheeseburger, onion rings, and a banana milkshake from Bobbie’s Dairy Dip, which means it’s officially summer.
And I am officially a giant lard-ass.
Actually, Memorial Day is a much more realistic first day of summer than June 21.
Even though everyone from schoolteachers and weathermen, who should know better, to those with excuses for not knowing, refers to June 21 as the “first day of summer,” they are categorically, verifiably, WRONG.
Remember Shakespeare’s play, “A Midsummer Night’s Eve?” Remember the night it is set on? Even if you don’t, look “midsummer” up in the dictionary - the definition will be “the day of summer solstice, on or about 21 June.” Mid summer, as in middle of summer. If June 21 is the middle of summer, it can’t very well be the first day of summer, can it?
I don’t know where or how this drivvle started, but it is time we reclaimed June as a summer month - all of it (was there ever any doubt?)
Similarly, Dec 22 is midwinter, not the first day of winter, March 21 is the middle of spring, and Sep 22 is the middle of Autumn. This, of course, refers to the astronomical divisions of the seasons - earthly weather sometimes lags behind - sometimes far behind, depending on how far north or south you might be, or how high up in the mountains.
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mmmmmm. Bobby’s Dairy Dip. We haven’t been there since, well, last summer.