happy Summer Solstice from Stonehenge...

[SleeplessinSoCal]

[DFW]

1. My happiest day of the year

When you are as far north as the lower Rheinland (Niederrhein), the sun doesn't set until around 10 P.M.

The days get shorter from here on in until December 21, the height (or low point, depending on your disposition) of what is known in Norway as "Mørketiden," or "the dark time," when there are only a few hours of daylight a day, and that's only if you live south of the Arctic Circle. Above there, depending on how far above, days with no sunlight at all number from a few to a few weeks.

On the flip side, I have been in Kiruna, Sweden, at the beginning of summer, and have seen the sun at midnight. That was strange, but at least not depressing.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I have been in Alaska at this time of year, and not having actual night

is very weird. In the town of Rjukan, Norway, they installed three huge mirrors on a mountain so they could get at least a little sunlight during mørketiden.

[Fla Dem]

2. Too bad it was overcast. Here's what clear skies would have produced.

On the summer solstice, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone, the ancient entrance to the stone circle, and sunlight is channelled into the centre of the monument. It is believed that solstices have been celebrated at Stonehenge for thousands of years.

www.bbc.com › news › uk-england-wiltshire-44558588

[SleeplessinSoCal]

5. It actually was quite fitting considering...

Cloudy skies cover us all. Maybe next year?

[niyad]

3. Thank you. Missed watching it last night.