Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice. I always think this is a great event, although I don't relish the idea that the days will begin getting shorter from here on out. It felt like Summer Solstice when I was in Montana last month. We were far enough west in the mountain time zone that it was light until very late even then. Here it's dark already by 9:00 p.m., but it was the longest day of the year and that is something to celebrate. I sat on the front porch with a cocktail and watched hummingbirds and the swallows as it got dark.

I think that mankind ruined religion when we invented a deity with human-like qualities. For one thing, it has enabled fearmongering charlatans to conger up a god with human emotions like hate and use it for self-enrichment and political purposes.

Attempting to define a deity and to speak authoritatively on what it believes has led us down a rat hole. That kind of thinking attempted to stifle Galileo and Copernicus. It's the same kind of thinking that allows single men who wear dresses and purport to be celibate to speak about sexual issues, marriage, and procreation. It has also ruined the wonder and mystery that is properly celebrated as religious.

The quest for and acquisition of knowledge is not and never has been the enemy of anything other than fear and ignorance. Unfortunately, that does seem to me to be the basis for modern religious beliefs.

Summer Solstice is probably about the height of the beauty of my container garden. The hot, dry days will begin to take their toll. Here are some garden pictures taken tonight for no reason other than to celebrate the season.

Not much dog in this post, but Rowdy got neutered today and is doing great.