The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year, and we have been making the most of the daylight. Our dog Zorro is always up with the sun, so at first light today at 4:08am he started stirring and by sunrise at 4:45am, he was ready to go. Waking up early here feels natural, and somewhat necessary. There are large windows that let the light in in the keepers’ quarters, so we never need to set an alarm, and there is always something that needs to be done around the house or the grounds.
Today was more lawn mowing and trail clearing for Matt. We are almost at the maintenance stage for the lawns and trails, but there are still sections of the North Trail that need to be cleared of hip-high grass now that the geese and gulls have finished their nesting on the rocky cliffs at the northern most point of the island. I had the chore of hauling 10 gallons of water up from the bottom of the tram so we have drinking water for the week. This nets nearly 700ft of elevation gain over the course of the trips up and down the hill in less than 1.5 miles of hiking.
In the house, it feels like we’re always doing dishes or tidying up something. We can’t go out to eat, so every meal and snack leaves dishes in the sink. Not surprisingly, the keepers’ quarters doesn’t have a dishwasher, so we wash everything by hand. Between dogs coming in and out and the constant mowing and raking, grass is always being tracked into the house. Sweeping is a daily necessity, though, I feel like every time I sweep there’s just more grass in a different corner of a room.
Our days are long and full and we’re exhausted by dinnertime, especially when it’s sunny and most of our day is spent outside. About 45 minutes before sunset, the light on the island makes a dramatic shift and every blade of grass and rock is lit up and looks like a movie. We’re often watching it from our kitchen window and run outside to take pictures – it never gets old to see a perfect golden hour light up Seguin.
Even though today’s the longest day of the year and last light nearly 9pm, we’re getting a little break in pace because some thunderstorms started to pass through around 5:30pm. We’ll take advantage of this time to read and relax before we welcome in the official start of the summer season!
Daily Weather Report
Temperature:79.0/63.1
Sunny and still in the morning; clouds and winds building by afternoon; thundershowers in the evening
Wind: N 1.8mph; Gust: N 15.9mph
High Tide: 10:32am/10:30pm
Low Tide: 4:21am/4:17pm
