Happy Summer Solstice!

'Tis the longest day of the year, and we will be lucky to see the sun at all today. We've had one inch of rain thus far, and have many more hours of showers ahead of us!

'Solstice' (Latin: 'solstitium') means 'sun-stopping'. The point on the horizon where the sun appears to rise and set, stops and reverses direction after this day. On the solstice, the sun does not rise precisely in the east, but rises to the north of east and sets to the north of west, meaning it's visible in the sky for a longer period of time. “June Solstice: Longest and Shortest Day of the Year.” www.timeanddate.com, 21 June 2015. Web.

Today, in Maine, the sun rose at 4:59 am, and it will set at 8:26 pm, which gives us a daylength of 15 hours, 26 minutes, and 43 seconds. Tomorrow, the sun will rise at 5:00 am, and will set at 8:26 pm and will yield a daylength of 15 hours, 26 minutes, and 41 seconds. We will lose 2 seconds of daylength...and then, we'll begin our rush toward the shortest day of the year in December;-)