I last posted about Summer Solstice and the summer solstice cupcakes that we like to make to celebrate the longest day of the year and the beginning of the summer season. I also mentioned the celebration we attend at Muir Beach, hosted by the Muir Woods National Monument park rangers. Here are some photos of this year’s celebration (which was nice and warm! Some years, on our CA coast, it is blanketed with fog.)
If you want to see some other wonderful Midsummer celebrations in Canada and Scandinavia (including Sweden, where the day is a national holiday!), read this terrific piece by my friend Kari at Active Kids Club.
We walked around the bonfire to drumming, holding stalks of invasive (and unwanted) mustard plant, which we placed into the fire. As we welcomed the new season, we also symbolically let go of things that no longer served us.
Ranger Mia and others told us stories about how various animals, like the raven, and natural occurrences, like the tides, came to be, and led us in folk songs and summer cheers.
There was plenty of marshmallow roasting and playing on the small beach on the longest day of the year.
These folks did their own wonderful drumming, which pulsated along the beach.
It was a special start to a joyous season. Enjoy your summer!
Photos by Susan Sachs Lipman
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