This morning at exactly 9:54 AM marked the Summer Solstice here in Utah. Today summer began. While the days will get hotter, we actually now begin our descent back towards winter as we start losing more and more daylight. Today felt more like the winter solstice than the summer solstice. The Wasatch front still has an abundance of snow in the mountains especially at the higher elevations. Mountain lakes are still frozen over. This morning on the mountain peaks, the temperature was below freezing after dropping close to 20 degrees from the high of yesterday.
In a few days, we will be commemorating the 175th anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. It is symbolic that their deaths occured around the summer solstice. We lost a lot of light as well as the potential of gaining more when these two brothers were killed.
Today marks a shift in this blog. One of Ten Commandments given to the covenant people in ancient times is to Honor your Father and your Mother. I believe this refers to both our earthly parents as well as our Heavenly Parents. With a shift in tone and content on this blog, I hope to do both.
No longer will I be numbering the blog posts or using all caps in the titles. No longer will I just point out our failings as a people, as an institution, and even as a country without offering some suggestions for improvement.
Most have heard the quote: 'If you are not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem' However, this is a misquotation of Eldridge Cleaver. The correct and full quote is: 'There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem.'
Photos taken this morning on a sunrise hike:
