sol*stice & sun*power

Greetings, fellow sun worshippers. You may not consider yourself such, may even bristle at the thought of worshipping any not-God, even one as golden and brilliant as the Sun, but we cannot do otherwise than worship the Sun. She is the Engine of Our Living. She feeds the Plants which feed the Beasts which both feed Us. She steadily vaporizes Water so that Cloud may release Rain to quench the Plants and Beasts and Us. Each time we eat or drink, watch a passing Cloud, scurry the porch cushions inside before Wind and Rain assail them, we acknowledge Sun's power in our lives, whether we show or express our honor and admiration for her outright.

I think I'm saying we shouldn't take Sun for granted.
I think I'm saying we should celebrate her,
even if she is but a fiery ball of gases with no interest in our attention.
I think I'm saying we should, on this Summer Solstice, get ready for Sun Day. 

Sun Day is a day of action on September 21, 2025,

celebrating solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind.
"Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power on the planet – and gives  us a chance to actually do something about the climate crisis. But fossil fuel billionaires are doing everything they can to shut it down. We will build, rally, sing, and come together in the communities that we need to get laws changed and work done."

Sun Day is scheduled for the Fall Equinox, organized by a coalition of grassroots organizations, clean energy experts, solar industry and worker organizations, schools, affordable housing, farmers, and creative partners.  "On Sun Day people everywhere will be showcasing solar installations, electric homes and vehicles running on clean power. Thousands of small events (think NO KINGS DAY) taking place on Sun Day will help accelerate the ongoing clean energy revolution: we have the technology and the solutions, all we need is to build the political will to scale-up and accelerate clean energy and make it accessible to all."  Maybe there's something you can plan to do? At the very least, go create a sun and share it!

My congregation has solar panels which were paid for through a loan and a "Commercial Solar Power Purchase Agreement (CSPPA) program developed by the Montgomery County Green Bank." Maybe your faith community also has a perfect roof just waiting to host solar panels! Maybe your community also has a "Green Bank"--a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to accelerating energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean energy investment by partnering with the private sector to provide more affordable and flexible financing options for County residents and businesses for clean energy and climate-resilient projects."

We installed solar at our "new" downsizer 1925 house on the Summer Solstice last year (the date was a happy coincidence). We used an unexpected surplus from the sale of the bigger old house to pay for them, and have benefited from a rebate and a tax credit that reduced the cost. These rebate programs are in jeopardy, but many states and localities may still have them.

Solar power is energetic poetry: it just comes streaming in all the time and it's up to us, the creatives, to harness it momentarily now and then. Here's how I harnessed some sun power in 2016, in the midst of one of Laura Shovan's February Poetry Projects [found objects].  This is a repost from way back then!

Thanks to our host, Carol, at The Apples in My Orchard for hosting the round-up today (and thanks, Sun, for the apples).

wdnc club: sign me up

Greetings, beleaguered poetry colleagues. I don't want to make assumptions, but I'm pretty sure that most of you reading this are women of a certain age whose bodies are going or have gone (I could stop the sentence there, but there's more) through The Change. The experience is confusing, almost always uncomfortable, and, historically, lonely.

Don't even worry though; Melani and the We Do Not Care Club have got you.  It is high time for all of us who, due to perimenopause, menopause, PMS, or the long-lasting echoes of those hormonal rollercoasters, unite and speak out.  Here's the first video I saw from Melani and the WDNC Club:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DKLJT3wywkK/

Do please go and explore Melani's videos and take some time to read the comments--I believe you also will die laughing (or crying) and then rise with a wisdom women have been taught to resist. 

It being the beginning of June, I took my turn to offer a challenge to the Inklings group, and it was to

Watch a few videos from the WE DO NOT CARE CLUB on Instagram or other platform. https://www.instagram.com/justbeingmelani/?hl=en  Write a poem that lists or explains some things that you as a woman no longer care about for whatever reason. It does not have to be because of peri/menopause. Try to replicate Melani’s deadpan delivery, if that’s possible in a poem. TWIST: include something that you DO care about, that requires you to make space by jettisoning some of the other stuff.

I either have two poems or two very different stanzas, and right now, I do not care what order they go in. You can read whichever one first.

For me what is most revealing in this WDNC experience is just how many, many, many things we have been juggling caring about our whole lives--with WE being the operative word. It's not just anxious, perfectionist me, it's loooooooads of us, trying to get free. Now I have seen (but not thoroughly read) at least one opinion from someone who feels unable to join this club. But as Melani says in one video, she realized she did not care "not in a giving-up-on-life kind of way, but in a finally-free-from-perfection kind of way." Those who feel unable to join the club may be missing the entire point, which is that we--all of us--should be able to choose what we care to put our effort into.

I hasten to add that I'm not giving up caring when people choose to put effort into selfish, thoughtless, downright evil actions--I reserve my right to moral judgment! But, girl, if you and your stretchmarked belly want to wear that fishnet crop top to my porch party, I support you, your belly, your stretch marks and your freedom. My eyes will get used to it eventually!🤣

I wonder what any of the other Inklings no longer care about.  Some of us might be too busy closing down the school year to write this week, but we'll look forward to their poems whenever they get to them. We do not care about artificial deadlines anymore❣️

Thanks to Buffy Silverman for hosting today, and don't miss your chance to sign up to host at Mary Lee's blog!