The deluge began late evening on Thursday, threatening to drench everything for Friday’s Juneteenth celebration. Fortunately, by midday on Friday, the rain stopped and had only refreshed the free outdoor event for us to kick off African American liberation day.
Two days later, a confluence of celebrations occurred on Sunday: Father’s Day, Summer Solstice and International Yoga Day. The most important of these observations to me was Father’s Day.
I made a colorful, homemade card for Dad, using very large print to help his 88-year-old eyes to read. I essentially thanked him for 55 years of being a wonderful father. I also enjoyed serving up the waffles my sister had made for him the day before. That was an edible gift that kept giving throughout the week although some days, Dad wouldn’t remember having them for breakfast by dinnertime.
Most Sunday mornings, I’m in a heated yoga room, so that “observation” is more like a continuation of a healthy habit versus a yoga day celebration. Thank goodness I don’t only do yoga once a year. How other middle agers literally move about this world without regular stretching is beyond me.
As far as the Summer Solstice, I always like to think the sun’s shining favorably on me. Although not as good as getting another hour to the day, I spent the extra sunshine completing the storyboard for a documentary, which showed the highlights of my two-week Ghanaian vacation last year to share with extended family during the upcoming Strange Family Reunion.
Throughout the week, I woke up about 30 minutes earlier to work on the documentary and then a few hours after either dance or yoga class. I completed my goal on Wednesday night, then uploaded it and sent it out to some friends. To rave reviews.
One friend thought I should enter it into film festivals. Tempting but I’ve used two copyrighted songs and I’m not going to pay royalties; so, it’ll just be for private use and sharing among family and friends.
Another friend thought it was professionally done. Good to know since I was still reeling from the horrible job I’d done on my first yoga video. I used the voiceover feature in iMovie in the documentary, which I’d learned how to use in that ill-fated yoga video. No sex goddess voice this time around.
As a matter of fact, the whole reason I’d burned the candle at both ends was to meet the deadline of sharing the video link with extended family. Regardless of how many people actually take the time to watch, it’ll always be there for prosperity’s sake. Another repackaging of the most expensive vacation I’ve ever paid for.
So, I didn’t exactly honor nature on solstice day, but I used my time wisely and creatively, which was honoring my true nature.