Given today will be a long day for me, being the summer solstice, I had an extra cup of Joe’s coffee this morning.
The picture was taken in my garden. The coffee is sitting on one of two cage-baskets covering a couple of cabbage plants because the whistle pigs now ate the leaves off of five of them. These varmint are behaving even worse than last year; they multiplied, too! At least the deer haven’t visited yet. More on this, and my strategies to protect my food supply, in a future post.
Joe’s Coffee
Anyway, I got this medium roast coffee from Trader Joe’s (Woodmere, Ohio)1Woodmere is about 13 miles east-southeast of downtown Cleveland. when I had some errands to do in Cleveland recently. The back of the package describes the coffee as such:
Joe brews a good, satisfying cup of coffee. No frills. Nothing fancy. Just good coffee at a great price. We created an excellent blend of Arabica beans and roasted them to that place where drinkability, smoothness and enjoyability meet – a medium roast, to be precise. Your kitchen table. The office. A to-go on the road. It doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you have a good cup of Joe.
Trader Joe’s “Joe” Medium Roast Coffee
Summer Solstice Forecast
Also, here in Northeast Ohio, there’s no denying that it’s summer.
The forecast is from this morning (8:00-8:30 am) and it was already 79°F with a dew point of 71°F and relative humidity of 88%.
Dewpoint Cheat Sheet
The dewpoint is key for me.2This is a link to a chart by WeatherWorks, which shows air temperature and dewpoint, and the danger points. And, according to how I feel and this little chart below, the dewpoint is already approaching oppressive levels, as it’s at the “air you could swim in” level.
When the dew point is above 60°F, then it begins to feel uncomfortable to me (and probably a lot of people). If the dew point is below, say, 50°F, then I’m fine, even if the air temperature is 90°F.
Regardless, I don’t mind some heat and humidity here-and-there as it reminds me of what summers are like in some southern regions. In the winter up here I sometimes think about how nice it would be to live down South. But that would only be nice to me for about half of the year.
Closing Thoughts
In closing, and to end on a good note, as it were, here’s a tune about the much-talked-about Welsh horse and sovereignty goddess, Rhiannon:
Rhiannon, a song and goddess
Rhiannon (lyrics snippet)
[Verse 1]
Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?
[Chorus]
All your life you've never seen
Woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
[Verse 2]
She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark
And when the sky is starless
Summer Solstice
And, of course, enjoy the summer solstice:
Among the eight sacred Celtic days, the summer solstice held a special place in the hearts of the Celts, who marked its arrival with diverse and meaningful rituals. Central to these traditions was the reverence for a Celtic goddess, known by various names across different regions.
In Ireland, she was honored as Étaín, a radiant figure embodying fertility and renewal. Across the sea in France, she was celebrated as Epona, the goddess of horses and fertility, revered for her nurturing spirit and connection to the natural world. In Wales, her presence was felt through Rhiannon,3According to American Songwriter, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac wrote the lyrics to the song “Rhiannon” after reading the Gothic horror novel (which is difficult to find and expensive), Triad: A Novel of the Supernatural by Mary Leader. Shortly thereafter, Stevie apparently read about the Welsh goddess. a divine figure associated with sovereignty and the rhythms of life.
The Magic Of The Summer Solstice In Ireland: Festivals And Folklore
Footnotes
- 1Woodmere is about 13 miles east-southeast of downtown Cleveland.
- 2This is a link to a chart by WeatherWorks, which shows air temperature and dewpoint, and the danger points.
- 3According to American Songwriter, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac wrote the lyrics to the song “Rhiannon” after reading the Gothic horror novel (which is difficult to find and expensive), Triad: A Novel of the Supernatural by Mary Leader. Shortly thereafter, Stevie apparently read about the Welsh goddess.
