Today I am home with my two girls, and so, not typically, I caught the news almost in real time today of the Supreme Court decision striking down the federal right to an abortion in our country. Although I was anticipating the news, it felt like a punch to the gut, and I am angry and scared for our country and our people. But I spent the last newsletter raging about reproductive rights, so today I want to write about something more peaceful and bigger than all of us, the recent Summer Solstice.

I've been paying more attention in recent years to the cycles of the moon and how they relate to my body and my internal rhythms. I've also been thinking more about the Druid Wheel of the Year, the Jewish lunar calendar, and how natural calendars provide touchstones with Mother Nature and her cycles.

This year, I've also been taking early morning walks about 4 times a week along the same path in the woods near my home, another way that I have been witnessing and embracing the ever changing landscape of my neighborhood throughout the year, from darkness to light, bare branches to buds and leaves, and quiet stillness to singing birds and nibbling bunnies.

I was out on one of my walks on Tuesday morning at 5:13 am at the time of the Solstice, and it brought me joy and peace to see the sun rise and shine brightly on the longest day of the year. A good reminder that through all of this, the Earth keeps spinning and the cycles of the year continue whether we take moments to notice them or not. The more chaotic, stressful, and angry the World seems, the more of these moments I want to take and appreciate.