harald johnson

author, publisher, swimmer

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Hygge Highlights

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me and Birgit
Me and Birgit sharing a bit of Hygge at the pool recently. (photo by Rob Gutkowski)
Hygge? It’s a Danish word (pronounced “hoo-gah”) that integrates a feeling of well-being, contentment, and coziness through simple and everyday experiences. About creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying good things with good people.

In my case, it’s not only sitting by a crackling fire and sipping wine, but more. Like these things that led up to today’s Autumnal Equinox . . .

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Summer Breeze

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field of dreams
Even though I shot this photo in April, it was starting to feel like summer to me. See the grass moving and undulating with the breeze?
There’s a lyric line in the 1972 song “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts that goes: Summer breeze, makes me feel fine; blowin’ through the jasmine in my mind. (Can you hear it in your head? I can. Find it online if you need a reminder.)

The song captures the feeling of a summer day. A mood. Of long days, long swims and hikes, and the end of long days of writing my latest novel.

Here are some highlights leading up to today’s Summer Solstice . . .

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Solstice Spinning

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Today is the Summer Solstice!
Today is the Summer Solstice!
The earth spins through its seasonal cycles because of its 23.5-degree tilt off the vertical of its orbital axis. In plainer words, it leans over as it rotates every 24 hours and as it revolves once a year around the sun. And when that lean reaches its maximum tilt toward El Sol, that’s when we hit the Solstice, the longest day of the year. We in the Northern Hemisphere call it “summer.”

Here are some recent highlights of the lead up to summer 2023 for me so far . . .

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Midsummer’s Here!

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green driveway
My driveway coming into green this year.

Summer is in full force where I live. Heat, storms, everything green . . . we’re getting it all. Which is okay because it’s the Summer Solstice! The time of the big change. The turn of the seasonal wheel. (BTW: I consider the solstice the middle of summer, not the beginning. Anybody who understands how things work can see this, right? And the Swedes even add skinny dipping to mark their Midsummer holiday.)

Here are some recent highlights of 2022’s summer so far for me…

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