Summer Solstice Is Here
享受陽光多美好 晝長夜短夏至到
The summer solstice, also known as estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). It is June 21, 2022 this year. For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky (for areas outside of the tropics) and is the day with the longest period of daylight.
To enhance the summer feel, it may be a good time now to review the classic “A Midsummer Night's Dream”, which is a comedy written by William Shakespeare (1595 or 1596.) The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed.
把握清晨與黃昏的散步時間, 因為夏至當天，太陽正好直射北回歸線，此時北半球的白晝（陽）最長，此日黑夜（陰）最短，過了夏至日，白晝漸短黑夜漸長。6月21日，夏至標識著夏天真正來臨。
現在還不是最熱的時候, 夏至雖然是夏季白天最長的時刻，但並不是天氣最熱的時刻，北半球的夏天要到小暑、大暑時，氣溫才會升到最高點。
夏至與冬至的「至點」是什麼意思?
每年都有夏至和冬至，分別在6月21日及12月21日，或差一兩天。其實Solstice是拉丁文，分拆出來就是「Sol」(太陽) 和「直立」(Sistere)，即是在至點時太陽直射的地球緯度是它能抵達的最南或最北的極值，而至點所在之日是一年之中日夜長短差異最大的一天。
夏至節氣都有哪些時令蔬果？
民間有「吃過夏至麵，一天短一線」的說法，以其後日照時間一天天縮短。除涼麵外，並有食桃、李、荔枝等時鮮水果的習俗，時令蔬果有：黃花菜、櫻桃、蘿蔔、金針菜、莧菜、桃子、荔枝、絲瓜。而在亞熱帶的台灣，到了夏至，許多水果紛紛應節上市，如荔枝、芒果、鳳梨、西瓜、香瓜、哈蜜瓜、葡萄等，味道甜美，水份豐富，正是夏天最可口的水果。
雖然和夏至的別名Midsummer沒有關聯，但是莎士比亞著名的喜劇《仲夏夜之夢》英文名為 A Midsummer Night's Dream，也不妨在此時節重新讀一讀，體會那夏日森林的神秘感。