Yesterday
was Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern
Hemisphere. In Bellingham, the sun rose at 5:07:06 am and set that
evening at 9:16:53 pm, for a grand total of 16hrs 09min 47sec of full
daylight. If you count civil twilight which begins at 4:24 am and ends
at 9:58 pm, the daylight hours stretch out to 17 hours 34 min.
As I have said before,
summer doesn't really start until the solstice parade in Santa Barbara
is complete. Then, and only then, is summer finally at our doorstep.
If
you are watching the parade, look for something that resembles giant
colon, or perhaps a wedge of cheese or maybe a cube...only they know for
sure. If you have an extra bottle of water, find the small slit in the
side about eye level and press the bottle through (they'll thank you
for it, trust me). Clap when they go by and tell them I love each and
every one of them.
I
dream of Santa Barbara, my family and friends who are there, the times
of my life spent there and the times yet to be. Where our next stop
will be is still unknown, but today, as with many days, my past meets my future, and I, much like the parade, will go with the flow.
In
the future I hope to travel further north and experience the
never-ending day associated with the far north. Until then, I relish in
the extra minutes of daylight and firmly plant those memories of in my
mind, waiting for a day with less light to remember them by.
Wisconsin is the home of Earth Day founder and US Senator Gaylord Nelson, Sierra Club founder John Muir, the Green Bay Packers, the Wisconsin Badgers, 29 methane digesters, the kringle (a butter-rich, tender-crusted Danish pastry filled with nuts or fruits, formed into giant ring and topped with a sugar glaze), and The Rock in the House. 
More importantly, it is the home of the brandy old-fashioned. Every bartender there knows the drill: a bar spoon of sugar, three dashes of Angostura bitters, a lightly muddled slice of orange, a slug of brandy, lots and lots of ice, a splash of soda and, of course, a bright red maraschino cherry. It is a pity more bartenders across the country don't know how to make a good old-fashioned.
Most importantly, it is the home of Sargento, a company that truly believes their most valuable asset is their employees. I was recently in Wisconsin for what will likely be my last visit as a Sargento employee. My time was split between the three plants, so I had the opportunity to see the facilities, the people that make them great, and the rolling countryside one more time.
My heartfelt thanks go out to Janet, Jim, Cory, Erika, Jane, Heather, Julie, Gary, Donna, Cheryl and everyone else in Quality Systems for making me feel at home. I hope our paths cross again.
The
month of May has come and gone. What looked like a long time in the
future, time enough at last to accomplish many things, is now the
past.
May lasted as long as it should have, from a calendar
sense of time, but it appeared to speed by, defying my wish that it
linger and allow me to embrace the boundless possibilities that existed.
Decommissioning
the plant was in front of us; now it is almost completely behind us. I
wanted more time to absorb those subtle images that will frame my
memories, allowing them to linger in my mind. Instead I find myself
fussing over the past and the future, pressing myself toward reality by
concentrating only on the present, wondering what will be next.
As I have said before,
summer doesn't really start until the solstice parade in Santa Barbara
is complete. Then, and only then, is summer finally at our doorstep.
