This is the third straight year I’m excited about the solstice. This northern-latitude living definitely spoils you with long days a few months each year! In keeping with the tradition we started last year, I threw an ice-cream party. We had about 70 people show up to enjoy sixteen different flavors of Tillamook, along with all the necessary toppings. We even had a contest where four people (drawn at random) competed to see who could build the tallest cone in sixty seconds. A ten-year-old girl handily beat her older competitors by constructing an absolutely massive wad of ice cream atop her sugar cone. She took home the coveted Golden Scoop as a prize.
Driving home, the clock was about to strike nine as I climbed the familiar hill on Highway 35 where the Flathead Lake lookout is. I pulled over and snapped a selfie.
Sunset wasn’t until 9:40 tonight, so there was still quite a bit of daylight to enjoy. Sixteen hours and three minutes in all today. And that’s just considering actual daylight, from sunup to sundown. When you consider “astronomical” twilight, which is a measure of true darkness, there’s only a period from 1:01 to 2:16 in the morning when it’s dark. So awesome.