This morning I was presented with a plain brown paper bag with "Love, Andrew"
scrawled on the side. Inside the paper bag, several Twizzlers (I'm not a
licorice fan, and not a rubbery candy fan in general), some Twix and Milky Way
minis (that's more like it), a hammer and toolbox made of foam, and a colored
picture of a father bear with his son. The son was colored black, the father
colored orange. And on top of the picture, a foil Spider-Man sticker.
Thanks, kiddo! Immediately after the presentation, "kiddo" asked if he could have some of the candy. It was 8:30 in the morning, so my answer was no — but as far as I'm concerned, he can have all the Twizzlers later if he leaves the chocolate alone. Perhaps this was part of his plan all along. My predilection for chocolate is well-known to both my children.
There are a couple of other lesser-known holidays this weekend. One is West Virginia Day. The Mountain State was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863. It was formed by "double-dip secession" — several counties in northern and northwest Virginia seceded from the Confederate state of Virginia. Our state's anniversary is a statewide holiday, so many businesses will be closed tomorrow and all state government offices will be. I'm sure there will be parades and fireworks and such somewhere too, but really, the important thing is getting that day off... right?
The other holiday is Summer Solstice. Actually this will be tomorrow morning at 7:28 EDT. Tonight is the shortest night of the year, and tomorrow will be the day with the most sunlight. Hippies across the world will smoke weed, refuse to bathe, eat granola, and get cosmic. Or in other words, business as usual. In all seriousness, the solstice celebration is ancient and dates back 10,000 years or more. Today, the solstice is celebrated in Europe by setting things on fire — a very similar celebration occurs in Morgantown in the fall. The solstice is largely ignored in the United States except by local meteorologists who need a quick 15-second sound bite, and of course, the hippies. And me, I guess.
A quick random observation about Summer and its imminent arrival. There are lots of fireflies this year. I don't know if they're on some kind of multi-year cycle like cicadas or something, but there are definitely more of them this year than normal — and I've heard that from a few other folks too, so I know it's not just me. Strange, but I like it.