Longest Day of the Year

Seemingly, every year at this time I remember what the F. Scott Fitzgerald character, Daisy Buchanan, from one of my favorite novels The Great Gatsby, said about the Summer Solstice,

"In two weeks it'll be the longest day in the year....Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it."

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year 2015 above the equator. Like the aforementioned Daisy, I usually miss the event and rue the fact just like she did. Though this year will be different as by blogging about it, and spending the time to give this some thought I most certainly will consciously watch it come and go. Some people view it sadly as the days inevitably grow shorter, until the Winter Solstice in December when the whole process reverses itself. I've thought about it now and it appears to me that the old chestnut about life's events is true: it's not what life hands you, it's how you react.

Here's a picture from the RHS 2015 graduation which was held this week. Nobody does High School graduation better. Just hope these newly minted alumni are ready for all the goodbyes that graduation necessitates and the heart break that ensues. Maybe they will take some solace in knowing that graduation is difficult for everyone in every place.  For what it's worth, these graduates do look sharp with the guys in their white tuxedos and the gals carrying red roses while wearing their own choice of white dress. The tradition is for the guys all to go to Biltmore Tuxedo on Ridgewood Avenue and rent the first tuxedo most of them have ever worn. The thing I remember about the outfit was the shoes were made of cardboard. The shoes matched the tuxedo perfectly but probable nobody at Biltmore expected them to be returned in the same shape as when they were rented out. They knew about the after graduation parties, the customary dip in Graydon Pool at sunrise, and the trips to the Jersey Shore the next day. The shoes were the least of their worries when you think about it. Just like the days growing shorter truly is the least of anyone's worries, especially if they miss the longest day of the year.