Happy Summer Solstice friends!

Today is the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere and there are many ways to celebrate. The day has turned out to be rainy in our neck of the woods, which put a lot of my tiny Summer Solstice celebrations on pause.

I was going to make Sun Tea (recipe below) but I need at least 3 hours of consecutive sunshine and that just won’t happen today.

Here is what I’m doing instead:

🍌 We made banana pancakes to add a little splash of yellow to our morning (“Banana Pancakes” is a great song by Jack Johnson if you want to listen to something chill on a Sunday morning)

🏖️ Before the rain starts, I plan on relaxing in our hammock and listening to the birds

🍅🍃 We bought fresh tomato and basil from our local Farmer’s Market yesterday and made caprese sandwiches. They were so goooood so I’m definitely doing that again

Summer Solstice Sun Tea Recipe:

1 glass container
1 green tea bag (or 1-2 tablespoons of loose leaf tea) per 6-8 ounces of filtered water
Honey, sugar, or fresh fruit to taste

I chose green tea because these leaves are harvested in the summer, but you can use any tea you like. Leave your closed glass container with tea leaves and water in the sun for 2-4 hours. Add sweetener to taste then add ice. Refrigerate leftovers. 

My suggestions for tea/sweetener mixes
Green tea with honey and lemon

Loose leaf chamomile and dried rose petals with honey. Add a splash of coconut milk. 

Black or White tea with muddled strawberries 

Black tea with lavender syrup and lemon

I’ll share more ways to celebrate the Summer Solstice on the next podcast episode of The Slow Season, which will drop Tuesday, June 23rd!

Side note: my favorite color has always been blue, but last year, yellow started creeping its way into my favorites folder and I wrote a poem about it.

A Love Letter to the Color Yellow

Forgive me for not writing this sooner.
In my youth, I saw you 
plastered on smiley faces 
and tacky plastic signs 
Banana-yellow bright. 
Worst of all, 
you refused to make me look good.
You sallowed my eyes, 
jaundiced my cheeks, 
paled my thighs.
You see, I thought you were meant 
for people who were perpetually happy
and I hated you for it.

My first love is blue (and always will be)
But something about you...
your butter hue
firefly light 
warm glow in the night.
The way you wrap yourself 
around my curls at dusk.
Your honeycomb musk.
You are irresistible. 
A citrine siren song
that I will sing all summer long.

Thanks for being here,

Catherine ❤️‍🔥