Happy Solstice!

One of the many great things about New York is that the street grid does not run true east and west, even though the street names say so. Instead, they run more northwest and southeast.

Which means that on the day of the summer solstice, the sun sets directly into the Hudson River at the western terminus of every street in Manhattan. Tonight, I was outside to watch: a blaze of gold from higher than the buildings, like a great flame, right down to street level, the sun so bright you couldn't look directly at it. Summer is here...and from this sunset on, every day, the sun will work its way back from its northernmost setting. So, although the summer begins, the winter comes with it.

And that makes me happy.