Today is bittersweet for two reasons. It's Father's Day and I'd really love to be able to spend the day with my dad. I think he'd be quite proud and interested in where I've been since he left this earth and where I am now, where I'll be in the future. Plus, I'm sure there was more he had to teach me, certainly more questions I would like to ask of him about his music, his art, his life. I'd like to watch him again in action sitting beside someone at the mall that he didn't know who was wearing a Sari or a turban or a yarmulke. He would ask questions, greet them in their native tongue and may ultimately get into a "discussion" on politics or religion. There was always a "discussion" at our house when the unknowing Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormon's would come to the door. My dad loved to debate religion, much to my mother's chagrin.
It's bittersweet secondly because today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. I love that it's officially summer. I love that it's the longest day of the year. But, summer seems to slip by so quickly and before I know it, all of a sudden, I'm smack dab in the middle of October staring down the face of winter. I love that the daylight will be sticking around as long as possible today before giving way to darkness. However, the days to follow the Summer Solstice mean each one is just one second less than the day before. It's almost like death, till we finally reach the true death when fall arrives and everything goes to sleep for the winter.
Every year I say I'm going to live each summer day to it's fullest. I'm going to spend every waking moment in the sunshine as a way to store it all up inside me so when the winter comes I have some left over to chase away the winter blues.
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life, Trying to make ends meet, Trying to find some money then you die, I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places, where all the veins meet yeah."
