Summer Solstice Giveaway 2015

Do you celebrate summer solstice? We certainly did as children! I remember sipping away at a juice box, watching the sun set on my parents' little backyard patio. The longest day of the year stretched beyond my bedtime, into a celestial moment. That thin veil between the ordinary and the mythological slips away. Would you believe I waited for that otherworldly magic? 

I could spot Puck from a mile away

In a high school British literature class I had the pleasure of seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream in Stratford, Ontario. My English language interest turned to full-blown obsession, and as the snow dusted the bus windows my mind wandered to those forests. Would I be a desperate Helena? A confident Hermia? Or the proud fairy queen Titania? I promise ladies and gentlemen, my whimsical humor will end soon...

As an adult that endless night is celebrated differently, though I never lost my imagination for it. Whenever I come across a reference in my reenacting research, I reminisce. One can find hints of the time in Godey's Lady's Book, and this July, 1857 poem seems to speak to me in a way that only nature can. 

THERE'S BEAUTY EVERYWHERE.

BY X.Y.Z.

THERE'S beauty when the morning light 

Falls on the emerald lea,

In every dew-drop sparkling bright,

In every budding tree;

In every mountain stream that leaps

In gladness to the sea,

In every thought that memory keeps 

Of guileless infancy.

There's beauty where the vernal showers 

Awake the breath of spring,

When fragrant grow the floral bowers, 

And feathered minstrels sing;

In every blade of grass that springs

To deck the verdant plain,

And when the summer solstice brings 

Rich fields of golden grain.

There's beauty when the storm-king's car 

Is driving o'er the main,

And in the elemental war

That brings the summer rain;

When the small brook a torrent flows, 

And forest-trees are riven,

When lightning's flash, and lurid grows 

The azure vault of heaven.

There's beauty when the zephyrs bland, 

Sigh through the gray old woods;

In every work from nature's hand,

The hills, the vales, the floods;

Where hazy veils, vermilion hued,

Adorn far tropic skies,

When the calm sea is all imbued

With sunset's gorgeous dyes.

In spirit voices sad and lone,

The beautiful we hear;

There's beauty in the artless tone

That greets the mother's ear;

And thy entrancing voices, love,

How witching they appear,

Thy magic tones the soul can move,

Or start the gentle tear.

What better way to mark this occasion than to a giveaway? I've collected items from my shop that represent the deliciousness of summer, items that I've not yet added to my online store. My glass coral drop earrings, necklace, comb, and clay grape cluster brooch look delicious enough to eat! But yummy enough to share with you...

So share away my readers! Rafflecopter will select a winner on the summer solstice!

a Rafflecopter giveaway