Summer Reflections — Part I

- George Gershwin

Okay, we don’t have much cotton growing around here. Yet. Who knows what changes Global Warming will bring?

Thursday was the first day of summer, the day the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, and the longest day of the year. Technically, according to the Sun Rise and Set tables in the Old Farmer’s Almanac [www.almanac.com], we will be enjoying 15 hours and 50 minutes of daylight through until Tuesday 26 June. After that the days will grow steadily shorter, once again.

I’ve always felt that this is a good spot to spend summers. While the days may be longer further north, winter tends to hang on and arrive earlier. Further south, and the days just aren’t as long in the summer, although the trade-off is that they aren’t quite so short in the winter.

Just for fun, I looked up a few locations in the Almanac.

Inuvik, NWT — Latitude: 68:20:59 N
Edmonton, AB - Latitude: 53:35:33 N
Thunder Bay — Latitude: 48:25:27 N
Sault Ste Marie — Latitude: 46:30:54 N
Dundas, ON — Latitude: 43:16:01 N
Orlando, FL — Latitude: 28:32:17 N

Today’s Rise and Set times are:


Inuvik -- 5:00 am / 5:00 am = 24:00
Edmonton -- 5:04 am / 10:08 pm = 17:04
Sault -- 5:44 am / 9:34 pm = 15:50
Dundas -- 5:40 am / 9:04 pm = 15:24
Orlando -- 6:29 am / 8:27 pm = 13:58

Sorry that's so cluttered. I tried inserting an html table, and it looked great, but it also inserted about 42 blank lines ahead of the table!

As you can see, summers here are a good compromise, as far as daylight goes.

So, why is the amount of daylight important? Well, for me, since I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the amount of daylight (or lack thereof) directly influences my mood. While most people do experience a rise and drop in mood that corresponds with the amount of daylight, those of us with SAD (estimates range from 2 to 15% of the population, with more cases reported in northern latitudes) experience a more dramatic change. So getting out into the sunlight is important.

But that’s only one aspect of enjoying summer.

The far bigger factor is just pure enjoyment. There is so much more to do in the summer.

Okay, I’ll admit right now, I am not a "winter person." Yes, when I was a kid I loved to go out and play in the snow, making forts when I was younger, or cross-country skiing as a teen and young adult, even going for the occasional snowmobile ride.

Now, I’d be happy if winter began on the 15th of December and ended on New Year’s Day. But I digress.

As I think back on the many summers I have spent, both here in the Sault and elsewhere, I realize that this is when some of my fondest memories were made.

As a young lad, growing up in the downtown area, I remember playing in the Campbell School yard. I look at that property now (Campbell Place Apartments) and it doesn’t seem anywhere near as big as I recall, but for my friend Henry and I, it seemed gigantic.

I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s on Pine Street, near McNabb. Aside from traipsing through various back yards, my friends and I would head to Penhorwood Park. If I thought the Campbell School yard was gigantic, the combination of FH Clergue school yard and Penhorwood Park was like our own little world. The best part was playing in the gullies, which to a 10-year old was like descending into the Grand Canyon. The gullies were criss-crossed with paths which we’d ride our bikes along, and there was even a jump on the one path.

I rode my bike through there last summer. I was disappointed to find that those gullies aren’t quite as deep as I recall. Still, we had fun.

We also had fun on the other side of Pine Street, playing in Chlebus’s Field. It’s a subdivision, now.

A few years later, just as my friends and I were heading into our teens, a Saturday afternoon would find us hiking down McNabb Street and off into the woods above Finn Hill. We would gather fallen branches and make forts, and explore yet another new world.

Summers in my teen years — before getting my driver’s license — would often find me on my bike. I’d leave the house shortly after breakfast, and would be gone until supper time. I discovered the rest of the City during that time. I found trails through wood lots, cat walks between subdivisions, laneways to take to avoid some of the busier streets, and new neighbourhoods to explore.

This served me well, as one of my first jobs was delivering pizza. Thanks to my explorations, I was already very familiar with most of the City.

Getting a driver’s license meant more freedom in the summer. Back when gas was only in the mid-30-cent range, I would spend a carefree day exploring the City, and even the network of back roads to the east.

I found some great places to go swimming, saw a lot of beautiful scenery, discovered a few good places to eat, and just got to know the area really well.

As I got older summers became shorter. Well, actually summers were the same length they always were, but the free time I had to enjoy them was drastically shortened by the various jobs I held.

Of the jobs I’ve had, very few have been Monday to Friday, weekends off. One of the benefits to this, however, was that I developed an appreciation for days-off during the week. If you’ve ever been anywhere on a weekend— the grocery store, the mall, an amusement park — and cursed the crowds, you’ll understand how great having a mid-week day-off can be.

Coming up on "Summer Reflections, Part II"…

• Vacations
• Yard Work
• Hammocks

So… what are some of your Summer Reflections?