Summer Solstice musing

Summer Solstice is my favorite of the Sabbats. The longest day of the year played out in the embracing heat of the new summer. In years past I would have planned a ritual with a party after. Not this year. I'm not ready to throw parties yet. I wonder if I ever will be.

Besides I had a busy day planned. My daughter Elvira and I were going to hit as many of the annual garage sales as we could in my historic neighborhood and the neighboring one. She cancelled after I'd already gone out for several hours, because Rock Dad has the flu, and she had to tend his music store. Later in the day I was going out with another friend to visit a local sex store and then maybe get some dinner and drinks. After that Rock Dad was supposed to play a show at a downtown bar, but he had to cancel because of that flu. Within the space of about 10 minutes all of my plans for the day disappeared like smoke in a downdraft.

So I walked around the neighborhoods by myself, picking up a few bargains and engaging in a few conversations, but mostly just browsing and moving on. I found a jig saw for $2 .... or maybe it's a saber saw. I don't know the difference and I don't care, but I know I need one. And I found some books and games for Coraline. I came home when the sun hit the apex, and my bag was full and heavy.

I stripped off my sweaty clothes, turned on the fan and stood in the breeze while I decided what to do with my unexpected free time.

I decided I might as well check Facebook, although I wasn't terribly enamored of a conversation going on there. I wrote a long answer to a question a friend asked on my Reticulated Writer Facebook page about last night's post, and just as I was about to walk away from the keyboard and fix some lunch, a message popped up from my friend The Hot Italian asking me if I wanted to go to a nearby glen and hike.

I considered the 3 hours I'd already spent hiking around the neighborhoods as I typed in my answer: I just needed to get something to eat and then I'd be ready to go.

And now instead of feeling like I'd been abandoned, I felt fortunate my afternoon had cleared so we could spend some time together. We message back and forth a lot, but we rarely see each other face-to-face, even though we live 15 minutes apart. We've been friends -- close friends -- for over 4 years, and we've never gotten together on the spur of the moment. And yet in so many ways, she was the perfect person to spend Summer Solstice with.

I'm just going to list some of my impressions from the day: limestone stairs, dirt and rock paths, splashing waterfalls, meandering streams, sitting on a fallen tree breathing in those negative ions that come from water rushing over stones, talking about sexism and addictions and strap-ons (I might have given advice to a lesbian about something I know dick about) and artificial vaginas (that's another post, and I'm not talking pocket pussies), about relationships and 25% and change and the mysteries of tarot and people who smoke on the path with no regard for those of us who want to smell nature, about the past and the future and letting go and crazy fuckers and who owns angst, about the lives we want to live and the lives we're forced to live.

We ended the hike by climbing up a tall stack of uneven limestone stairs, soaked in sweat and friendship, muscles aching and, speaking for myself, with a full and satisfied heart and a great need for a drink of water. We agreed we deserved ice cream, but we didn't get any. Next time.

Oh, Miss Serendipity, I love it when you disappoint me by turning my plans upside down, and then throw a perfect Summer Solstice gift at me just because you can.

It's days like this I wish I could hold on to. Summer has always been that way for me -- so hot and sweet and much too short. I needed the reminder that I've been spending a lot of these pre-summer days alone -- working on my house, playing music, reading and writing, working on my house. I have so much to do here, it's overwhelming. I haven't even been on a bike ride this season because of all the work on my to-do list. I thought I would be done with so many things and moving on .... but I have to be patient. It's hard.

And yet, I'm also fitting in some important unplanned time too -- a weekend trip to visit Drake and Montana, an evening spent listening to a blues jam and playing pool with my theater sister Trick Shot and her fiance Lights, and today's hike in the glen with The Hot Italian. Summer is the time for following whims. Please, Miss Serendipity, find me more whims, and if it pleases you, toss in an elf or two to finish those chores in the night while I sleep.

If you could do anything on the spur of the moment, what would you do? Who would you do it with? And what the hell are you waiting for?