GF 6 20 25 Juno

It is mid-June. The origins of the name of the month comes from the Latin, “Juno" and is associated with the Roman goddess Juno, who was the queen of the gods, associated with marriage, women, and childbirth. The name's etymology is linked to the Proto-Italic root "*juwen-," meaning "young," which also gives rise to other Latin words like "iunior" and "iuvenis."  It makes sense for us in the Northern Hemisphere as it is the season of life and rejuvenation. The summer is young, the days long and the possibilities of the summer season are in front of us, winter a distant memory, Fall a long ways out even as the days start to recede now.

I looked around for some relevant quotes on summer, and June and the seasons we pass through. I love finding good quotes. I think so much of value has already been said and I love finding these little packets of wisdom. We stand at the threshold of summer. The shift in seasons is a metaphor for life. Youth, like summer, is fleeting and all ages and seasons have value and are to be experienced to the fullest. What we are to be thankful for is being around to experience the full range of each day across all seasons, yet June holds special promise.

“Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.” ― Yoko Ono

“I think that to one in sympathy with nature, each season, in turn, seems the loveliest.” ― Mark Twain

“The longest day of sunlight...comes at the beginning of Summer rather than in its midst. In consequence, all Summer long we are inclining towards Summer's end instead of building to a climax and then tapering off.” ― Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons

“...we're not eighteen anymore. We've lived. We've created things that last – things of joy, and things of burden.” ― Dianna Hardy, Summer's End

“The summer in you calms the winter in me.” ― Saiber, The Summer in You

“And summer isn't a time. It's a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter.” ― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

“Every new season of you life will be an opportunity for you to learn and grow. Don't celebrate the good without celebrating the bad because they both work together to prepare you for the next season of your life.” ― Theresa Lewis

“In life, we need to go through a naked tree season in order to turn nothingness into meaning.” ― Luis Enrique Cavazos, The Five Virtues That Awaken Your Life

“A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone.” ― Mandy Hale

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” ― Henry David Thoreau, Walden or, Life in the Woods

“A year in Vermont, according to an old saw, is "nine months of winter followed by three months of very poor sledding.” ― Bill Bryson

“But here I am in July, and why am I thinking about Christmas pudding? Probably because we always pine for what we do not have. The winter seems cozy and romantic in the hell of summer, but hot beaches and sunlight are what we yearn for all winter.” ― Joanna Franklin Bell

“Summer rushes in on the heels of spring, eager to take her turn; and then she dances with wild abandon. But the time soon comes when she gratefully falls, exhausted and sated, into the auburn arms of autumn.” ― Cristen Rodgers

June is indeed alive, and the summer is young. I am grateful for this June. It is a gift of life to be here for yet another one. I hope for some cookouts, to see the summer sea and for times in the woods in the midst of the full bounty of nature. Fall shall come, winter beyond that. All are to be embraced. We are here, now. That is enough.

What are you grateful for today?