radiant fracture

Because this was fun in other years: what are your hours of daylight today, on the summer (or winter) solstice?

Today I woke up at 4:45 am to the bird parliaments already in full session, debating beauty, territory, scandal, survival. Since it is the solstice, instead of rolling over and trying to sleep in the half-light, I got up, toed on my doing-to-the-laundry slip-ons, and walked around the block, admiring the subtle and variegated sunrise.

The crows were assholes because they are nesting, and kept announcing my presence with klaxon cries. (C'mon, crows. When have I ever eaten one of you?) I found a telephone pole painted with art that eerily echoed my novel's imagery (or vice versa).

My phone says the sun rose at 5:10 this morning. Timeanddate.com says that today I will experience

• Sixteen hours and seven minutes of daylight, between 5:11 am and 9:18 pm
• An hour and 24 minutes of civil twilight (4:29 am - 5:11 am and 9:18 pm - 10:00 pm)
• Just shy of two hours of nautical twilight (1:58) (3:30 am - 4:29 am and 10:00 pm - 10:59 pm)
• 3 hours and 51 minutes of astronomical twilight, and
• 40 minutes of true night.

How about you?

{rf}