By Mary Tucker
The song and dance number from the 1945 Rogers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel” tells us that “June is Busting Out All Over”. I see it happening right here in Andes. Look around, look around: you see spruced-up homes and yards, lawns mown, flower gardens in bloom, veggies ready for use and many fun things happening. Lawn and garage sales are springing up. Flea markets, craft fairs, antique shows are scheduled for June. The thrift shop and all the various stores in Andes will be open. Picnics, barbeques, graduations, and weddings (with the surrounding festivities) will be enjoyed by friends and families. Students can’t wait for school to end, going on vacation, or a summer job, and for the Andes Pool to open.
Then we have the June holidays; no major national holidays just days for celebrating and having fun like Father’s Day, Flag Day, Baseball Hall of Fame Day on June 12th, the summer solstice on June 21st.
On June 21st, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, we have 13 hours of daylight and it is officially the first day of summer; in the Southern Hemisphere the summer solstice is celebrated in December. People around the world have observed spiritual and religious days that are linked to the summer solstice in some way. ‘Solstice’ comes from Latin words ‘sol’ meaning sun and ‘stere’ to cause to stand still. As the summer solstice approaches, the noonday sun reaches higher in the sky each day until June 21st when the noonday sun is directly overhead and seems to stand still.
Andes and the surrounding area is a great place to be so make the most of every day of June. ~