Summer Scene

The sun did not shine today as our June overcast continues. Nevertheless, the movement of the planet continues uninterrupted by local weather or time of day for that matter, and so the solstice occurred this evening. I lay out back in my zero-gravity chaise and watched. The cloud mass rose and began rotating slowly clockwise, making Saturn visible just to the west of the neighbor's big phoenix palm. An unidentifiable lighted dot or blob moved north across the sky at an unusual apparent rate of speed in a manner reminiscent of a skyrocket. The clouds cleared away and the star shine intensified. Plane traffic stopped. The sound of drumming in the near distance could be heard and then a car alarm went off. A flying insect divebombed my face but did not bite. To the east a bank of clouds began to build up, only to dissipate quickly. It got cold as a breeze came up and another fainter light moved northward across the sky. I went inside and ate some fresh raspberries.















Earlier in the day a large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, visited the feverfew flowers. A mantis nymph (Stagmomantis californica) walked across the back wall of the house. A mirid bug climbed to the top of a shasta daisy bud.