Summer

1:04 AM Eastern Time Today

Marks the first day of summer for 2013.

That got me reminiscing about summers past, the long hot sweltering summers back east,  the Jersey Shore,  monsoons in Korea, and a visit to Stonehenge back in the summer of 98.  Summer here in the mountains is hardly noticeable, I don't even have, nor do I need air conditioning... down in the city maybe, but not up here.  

My visit to Stonehenge was in June, not quite the solstice... it was cold, grey, damp and drizzly.  I remember my first sight of it... I was underwhelmed.  While undoubtedly a great feat of engineering for the time,  it was much smaller than I had expected.  Honestly, I was more impressed by Salisbury Cathedral nearby than I was by Stonehenge and I'm a big Celtic history buff.

Summer Traditions 

Every summer we pick a drink to serve throughout the season,  one year was Mojitos, another was Mint Juleps, the Cucumber Gin Coolers were an interesting diversion last year.  Of course it's grilling and barbequing season, the steaks and roasts and smoker come out.  We'll grill anything meat or vegetable,  and the evening air is usually filled aromatic, mouthwatering smoke.  We used to go camping before we moved up into the mountains,  now we just sit on the deck and enjoy the evening until the chill sets in.  That got me thinking about fire pits and outdoor fireplaces.  I was reading an article about the solstice and stumbled across this one, which I guess technically is a fire bowl:

Almanac

So, What are you going to do now that summer's here?