solstice OR midsummer dreaming

We have had the MOST glorious summer so far.  I mean, it is like 40 degrees outside now an hour before the solstice at 6 something am EDT, but our days have been 70-80 and perfect.  You know how puzzling it is to little kids that summer supposedly begins after weeks of already wonderful summer weather?

I was wondering just now, having taught it to high schoolers 20 years ago "isn't the solstice the same day that Shakespeare's MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTS DREAM is set in?" and YES, it is true.

"The title is also pretty obvious shout-out to Midsummer's Eve (June 23), or the summer solstice. Elizabethans would have heard this title and thought "party time!" In Shakespeare's day, Midsummer's Eve was all about celebrating fertility (not just the successful planting and harvesting of crops, but also the kind of fertility associated with dating and marriage). It was an excuse to party outdoors and the holiday involved dancing, drinking, and collecting medicinal herbs. For a lot of partiers, Midsummer's Eve was also supposed to be a time of mystery and magic, when spirits ran around causing mischief, and teenage girls had dreams about the guys they'd eventually fall in love with and marry."

So, solstice time used to be considered the MIDDLE of summer, which makes sense. BUT FLIPPIN' SLOW DOWN, I am in NO HURRY for June or summer to pass, right?

In other news, some vases just out of the kiln.... the very light blue glaze there?  A new experiment for me which I am quite pleased with.  When we bought this house, the bathrooms (and all the rest) had just been painted, and I asked the sellers what the wonderful bathroom color was and the reply "just go to the paint store and choose a nice light minty blue".  OH HO!  Light minty blue, yes that describes this glaze indeed... have a great Saturday!


(new pottery by Gary Rith)