Let’s consider changing summer

By Dave Churchill (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, June 15, 2007

Let’s hope for clear skies next Thursday. It will be the summer solstice and while one sunny day may not seem much different from another, Thursday, June 21, will bring the most daylight of the year.

Since we have all that daylight — something like 17 hours — it would be nice to have some clear skies with which to enjoy it.

Thursday is also the day that most see as the official start of summer, although for all practical purposes the season began long ago. One has to wonder about the logic of declaring summer’s start on the day when the season actually starts its fall towards … well, towards fall.

In the past, readers have rebuked me for writing things like, “it was a nice summer day,” when the date was only June 10, which is technically still spring. But as we inch toward the solstice, it’s a good time to consider how much we need to change that definition.

There are any number of better ways to define the start of summer.

Memorial Day weekend is as good a time as any to start the season. The three-day break represents the tipping point when most of us feel like it is summer. I also seem to remember my mother telling me it is the point after which it is OK to wear white pants. That has always been moot for me, because it’s too hard to keep white pants clean.

Memorial Day’s disadvantage as a season-starter is that the date is always changing. It is not as hard to pin down as, say, Easter, which is all over the calendar. But it is more variable than Christmas, which we know for sure will be Dec. 25.

The same problem afflicts another otherwise logical summer starter: The end of school. That is a real turning point for many families each year, but the date is highly variable and, worse, in some parts of the country full-year school means summer would never really start.

Weather might be a better indicator. June, July and August, taken together, are the “summer months.” Why not simply lump summer in with the time when we can be pretty sure there will be warm weather, thunderstorms and quite a bit of daylight. While there is some variability around the country — it’s pretty warm in Florida in May, and still pretty cool in Alaska during June — that definition would fit most of the country.

I am all for recognizing the significance of the solstice. In fact, we ought to make it a holiday. The longest day of the year is really a lot better time to celebrate than, say, Halloween. So no need to take anything away from June 21, we can continue to recognize it.

But let’s call a spade a spade and make the official start of summer June 1. It’s easy to remember and it makes sense.

•••

It caught me by surprise, but apparently even parts of Minnesota that we would not normally consider the metropolitan area have air quality problems. The state Pollution Control Agency issued an alert for Thursday warning that people with breathing troubles or heart problems needed to avoid working outdoors that day due to high ozone levels. Pollutants from cars and other nitrogen oxide sources react with ozone on hot, muggy days to creating conditions that can irritate asthma and other conditions.

When Brainerd, Minn., of all places, has too much pollution for easy breathing, does it not suggest we need some stronger national leadership on reducing air pollution? Few are likely to change their individual driving habits without a push of some kind, even if only a verbal push.

It’s time for that push to get started.

Journal publisher Dave Churchill’s column runs on Fridays.