Happy Midsummer (that's MID-summer)

Yes, I know. It's the summer solstice.

Guess what? Today is not the "first day of summer". I don't care what your tv weatherman, or your calendar, says.

Look up midsummer in the dictionary. You'll find something like this:

midsummer
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English midsumer, midsomer, from Old English midsumer, from midd, midde mid + sumer summer
1 : the middle of summer
2 : the period about the summer solstice

"midsummer." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (21 Jun. 2006)

Then look up Midsummer's Day in the dictionary.

midsummer day
Function: noun
Usage: usually capitalized M&D
Etymology: Middle English midsomer day, from Old English midsumer dæg
: June 24 : SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST's day

"midsummer day." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (21 Jun. 2006).

So - summer's only 6 days long?

Look, in the Celtic calendar (which had two seasons) summer started in May and ended in late October. We count four seasons, and summer is roughly late May through August, right? Even if you arbitrarily assign three months to each season, summer is June July August ...

The solstice marks the point the sun is at equilibrium. If you start the summer today, then the entire summer is characterized by shortening days. (The entire winter is characterized by lengthening days, too.) I think it makes a lot more sense to say the solstices mark the middle of the seasons. Clearly, whoever labelled June 24 as "Midsummer's Day" agreed - remember the precession of the equinoxes which is why June 24 isn't the solstice anymore, just as Christmas isn't on the winter solstice anymore (for which my pagan friends are happy, at least: they're getting Yule back! Thank you, Mother Nature! but I digress...)

Lots of other countries' and cultures' calendars do in fact define summer as beginning much earlier than June 21. It's only the US that stubbornly insists on today being the 'first day of summer'.