The summer solstice of 2014 began this morning (June 21, 2014) at 6:51 a.m. This day brings us the longest day in the year and the first official day of summer!

Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,
We are happy now because God so wills it;
No matter how barren the past may have been,
’T is enough for us now that the leaves are green;
We sit in the warm shade and feel right well
How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell…
The breeze comes whispering in our ear,
That dandelions are blossoming near…
Every thing is upward striving;
’T is as easy now for the heart to be true
As for grass to be green or skies to be blue, —
’T is the natural way of living…
~James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal