Running With Quills: Suzanne: June is Bustin' Out All Over

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Suzanne: June is Bustin' Out All Over

It's June and that means it's the good old summertime! On the morning I'm writing this the sky is clear blue, the sun is pouring in the windows at the back of our house, and the faceted crystals I have hanging in my kitchen are sending rainbows and magic everywhere. How appropriate for the first official day of summer!

I did a little research and, besides the perennial signs of summer here in the Midwest, I discovered some interesting tidbits about Jivin' June.

Did you know that June is National Fight the Filthy Fly Month? (It's also National Accordion Awareness Month and Turkey Lovers Month.)

Did you know that June 2nd is National Rocky Road Day? (Yep, folks, it's all about eating ice cream, specifically Rocky Road. Kind of glad I missed it this year since I'm on a low-carb diet.)

Did you know that June 6th is National Yo-Yo Day in honor of Donald F. Duncan, Sr., the man who introduced the yo-yo to the USA. In 1946, Duncan moved his company to Luck, Wisconsin, which quickly became known as the “Yo-Yo Capital of the World.” (The history of the yo-yo, however, dates back B.C.E. to China and Greece.)

Did you know that June 9th is Donald Duck Day in honor of Donald's cartoon debut on June 9, 1934?

Did you know that Disneyland opened on June 17, 1955?

Don't panic, but did you know June 18th is International Panic Day?

Did you know that June 19th is World Sauntering Day? (Sauntering is about my speed in life.:-)

Appropriately enough, June 19th is also Garfield's birthday. (That saunterin' cat is now 28 years old and hails from the pen of Jim Davis who lives about an hour down the road from me.)

June 21st is the Summer Solstice, of course, but did you know that the moon of midsummer (in pagan tradition) was called the "honey moon" from the mead made of fermented honey that was consumed after many marriage ceremonies held on the Summer Solstice? Hence, the term "honeymoon."

Did you know that June 22nd is Thumb Exercise Day? (Nope, neither did I!)

Did you know that June 23rd is National Pink Day? (Bet you figured out that the recommended color choice for this day is pink. Pink is also my signature color!)

Did you know that June 30th is Meteor Watch Day? (Attention all dinosaurs!)

June is truly a jivin' month. Do you have any interesting tidbits about the month of June you'd like to share with us? What is your favorite part of summer?

22 Comments:

KathyK said...: Is there any connection between June and Juno, the Roman goddess? If so, does the fact that she's female have anything to do with the popularity of weddings in June?; 8:09 AM
DFender said...: Suzanne...
What a bright, happy, solstice-y kinda blogger you are today! YaY! Living in the midwest myself (Cleveland area in Ohio) I love the early summer. Y'know, before the 200% humidity days kick in!

The best part for me is being able to go out on the deck on a weekend morning with a cup of coffee and enjoy the silence and the warm weather.

I remember, as a kid, waking up with the windows open in my bedroom and feeling the warm summer air... and knowing that there was no school and I had the whole day to dream and play. It's a great feeling that comes back every time I wake up on a summer weekend morning.
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kathyk- I did some research too and here is some more information from Wilson's Almanac:

The sixth month of the year derived its name from the Roman junius, a gens or clan name related to juvenis, meaning young. The Roman writer, Ovid in Fasti, his work on the Roman calendar, writes: Junius a juvenum nomine dictus (v, 79). Another possibility is that it might derive from the goddess Juno – perhaps both explanations are correct.

Juno was the Roman Mother Goddess, known to the Greeks as Hera, and her original name to the Romans was Junonius. Among her attributes, she is queen of heaven, approximating Frigg in the Northern Tradition, and Mary in the Christian. She is ruler of the high point of year, when there is maximum light and minimum darkness (in the Northern Hemisphere). On about June 21, the northern Summer Solstice will occur, and here in the south, we will have our shortest day.

Juno is a counterpart of Janus and the divine watcher over the female sex, so this month is considered the best time to marry.

As Juno Moneta, guardian of wealth and money, she had a temple on the Capitoline hill in Rome where the empire’s coins were minted. The folklorist Nigel Pennick writes, “This theme of wealth can also be seen in the runic year cycle: the half-month of Feoh, the time of wealth and abundance, begins on 29 June”.

The most likely derivation is that the month was dedicated a Junioribus – that is, to the junior or inferior branch of the original legislature of Rome, just as May was a Majoribus, or to the superior branch.

The Saxons called it Weyd-monat, because their beasts did then weyde into the meadows, meaning that they went in and fed (cf the Tutonic weyde, a meadow). Another explanation is that June was Woedmonath, and that woed means weed. June was called Medemonath, Midsumormonath and Braeckmonath (breaking of soil). Another name was Lida erra (Icelandic Lida = to move, or pass over): the sun passing its highest point. Another Anglo-Saxon calendar term for the sixth month was se Ærra Liþa (Aerra Litha – the earlier Lithe-month), ‘before Liþa (Litha)’ – Litha means midsummer, and is a term for the solstice used today by many neopagans. The Saxons also called it Seremonath (dry-month).

The old Dutch name was Zomer-maand (summer-month); in the French Revolutionary calendar the month was called Prairial (meadow month, May 20 to June 18).

The Irish used to call this month meitheamh, and the Franks called it Brachmanoth, meaning ‘break month’.

In modern Asatru, it is called Fallow.

The backwoods (Amerindian) name is Hot or Strawberry Moon.

June is ‘the door of the year’, the gateway to inner realms.

In the goddess calendar the first 12 days of June belong to Hera.

European folklore tells us that: good weather in ‘Flaming June’ is required if there is to be a good harvest; bats flying on a June evening are a sign of hot, dry weather, and if swallows fly near the ground in June it’s a sign of coming rain.

In the south-west of England, there was still in 1826 the old pagan custom of throwing flowers into a stream at this time of year.
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Hope that helped!

Deb

zhyoectg: Zephyrs halt, yielding over every continent, terminally gyrating.; 8:30 AM
Shelli Stevens said...: Hmm I don't think I know any great facts about June. But I do know it's the first day of summer, and it's yucky here in Seattle. Grrr. >:(; 10:49 AM
elizabeth said...: Favorite part?

When the teenagers next door go back to school and I don't have to listen to their "trashtalk" while they play basketball fifteen feet from my computer.

Yeah, I'm a regular Grinch.; 10:56 AM
Lou said...: Off the subject - sorry - Elizabeth, I hope those fires in Arizona are not near your winter digs.; 11:40 AM
nellsquirrel said...: June means vacation for my family usually - we're off to Maine - Acadia National Park for hiking and Lobstah!!!

My favorite time is early August after the "have to have a party, let's get together" rush is over. Sitting by the pool in the gazebo with no one around, good book in hand, cold drink at my elbow.; 12:03 PM
talpianna said...: Did you know Suzanne and dfender have waaaay too much time on their hands?

We are due for 113-degree temperatures this weekend, so I'm not exactly rejoicing.

A bit of wedding trivia: it was formerly believed that there was a vein leading from the "ring" finger directly to the heart, which is why the wedding ring is worn on that finger.

Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu.
Groweth sed and blweth med,
and springeth the wde nu.
Sing cuccu.
Awe bleteth after lomb,
Lhouth after calve cu.
Bulloc sterteth, bucke verteth,
Murie sing cuccu.
Cuccu, cuccu,
wel singes thu cuccu,
Ne swik thu naver nu.

wfuxkrv -- Sounds like a very vulgar remark to me!; 2:15 PM
AgTigress said...: Should you just add, Tal, that the poem is by an anonymous hand, is in Middle English, and dates to the 13th century?

;-); 2:19 PM
Madison Chase said...: June 23rd is National Pink Day? Oh praise be. I just love pink. Not that you'd know that from my website, but my closet is filled with pink. :); 4:06 PM
talpianna said...: Tigress, I simply took it for granted that everyone knew that already!

lidhjqhg -- Lowell idolizes (her) DH; Jayne (Quick)'s husband grins.; 4:09 PM
Stella said...: Did you know that approximately 19,000 Druids celebrated the Summer Soltice at Stonehenge today?

Stella; 5:19 PM
Jay said...: June. *sigh* It's winter here. It was one degree celsius when I got up this morning, and I had to hose ice off my windshield. Putting in a mighty effort, it made it up to three degrees by the time I got to work...; 9:06 PM
talpianna said...: It's going to be about 112 here this weekend. Perhaps we could split the difference?

pnawft -- Please, no awful warnings from Talpianna....; 11:37 PM
Suzanne Simmons said...: talpianna wrote: Did you know Suzanne and dfender have waaaay too much time on their hands?

LOLOLOLOL Oh, how I wish! Right now I'm scrambling to finish a book and could really use 36-hour days! And four hands and two brains!; 7:50 AM
Michelle Buonfiglio said...: Ow. My brain hurts. And here I thought I'd never again use those pronunciations I learned in my Early Music classes.

Pedicures. June's a great month for em. Perhaps ground ochre toenail decoration was part of the druid summer solstice celebration.

Just kiddin, youz smarty pantses.; 8:53 AM
robin said...: Greetings on Thumb Exercise Day! Is hitchhiking the official celebration for that? A Happy Days marathon featuring the best of Fozie? Really, they don't celebrate holidays the way the used to!

Have a good day, everybody!; 11:41 AM
Emeraldax said...: I'm so glad I stopped by and read about Pink Day! Forget about what I was going to wear tomorrow. I will now be wearing Pink!; 12:44 PM
DFender said...: talpianna wrote: Did you know Suzanne and dfender have waaaay too much time on their hands?

Riiigghhht. Takes all kindsa time to cut and paste... lolol

Deb

jpcdz: Just paste cuz deb zones.; 1:51 PM
Eliza Gayle said...: June 24th is Fairy Day and June 14th is Flag Day!; 4:24 PM
Suzanne Simmons said...: Personally, my favorite part of summer?

Well, first of all I go to the national RWA conference every July (that's Romance Writers of America), where I get to spend "quality time" with Jayne and Stella and so many other friends!

Second, I usually take 2-3 weeks off between writing books and read all day and all evening long. I LOVE the luxury of curling up on the sofa, with a cup of tea on the table beside me, and read, read, read, sometimes several books in a single day! (This is how I remember my summers as a young girl. Especially since I've never particularly liked being out in the heat and humidity.)

Third, you all know I'm the movie-goer among the Quills, and I love going to the movies in the summer. That's one of the first things I'm going to do once my current manuscript is sent off: go to see a big blockbuster summer movie!

So, I wish each and every one of you your very favorite kind of summer!; 8:30 AM
Ranurgis said...: On June 19, one of my calendars (mind you it was printed in China) has an entry for "Juneteenth" (US). I've never heard of anything named this before and I haven't actually looked it up in Google or anywhere. Does anybody know anything about this?; 10:19 PM
talpianna said...: Juneteenth celebrates the freeing of the last American slaves--in Texas, on June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It took a while to get the word there.

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth

aerli -- when I don't get up; 11:39 PM

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Suzanne: June is Bustin' Out All Over

22 Comments: