Saturday, June 20, 1998

The arrival of summer

Mother Nature, ignorant of the importance of our social calendar, says summer officially begins Sunday at 9:03 a.m., the solstice when the sun is as far north of the equator as it's going to get this year.

We, of course, know summer is almost one-third shot, since it really began at close of business, Friday, May 22, the start of that summer kick-off weekend the social calendar calls Memorial Day.

On Sunday, the year is only three weeks away from being half over. And it's only two weeks until the Fourth of July weekend, which is the social calendar's way of saying summer's sort of half over. With the solstice past, the days will get shorter, and already the stores are talking about fall fashions.

While Mother Nature's summer lingers on until Sept. 23, the vernal equinox, the social calendar summer ends at Labor Day.

Where has the year gone? It seems like only yesterday the pro basketball and hockey playoffs were held -- actually, it was only yesterday. For sports fans who can never get enough, it's only 24 days after the solstice that pro football players begin reporting to camp. Enjoy summer while it lasts.