To truly enjoy the longest day of the year, you have to get up early, at least two hours before the sun rises. You need to be in a position to watch the sunrise before first light. For the best results, hike up a mountain to view the sunrise.
Watch the sun rise.
On the way down the mountain, call several people to wake them up and ask, “Did you see the sun rise?”
Next, figure out which coffee shop is open and spread the word there that it’s the longest day of the year. Ask people how they’re celebrating. The coffee shop workers will especially love this because they will be celebrating by working.
Now it’s time to go home and start mowing. No one else should be sleeping on the summer solstice either. Wake up those neighbors. If they don’t seem to be rising and shining, get out the leaf blower too.
Next, go to a breakfast place and order some eggs, sunny side up. This is a great way to celebrate the sun’s very long day.
A bookstore should be open by now. Go to the bookstore and ask them to show you all of the books they have about the summer solstice. If they don’t have a summer solstice section, you need to scold them. There are at least six books that have been written about the summer solstice.
Now it’s time to put the soul in the solstice. If your town has a SoulCycle, go there. If your town does not have a SoulCycle, get on your own bike and start riding. You’ll need to listen to soul music. “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” is a must-listen. There’s a song with the lyrics “Let the sunshine in, let the sunshine in. The sunshine in,” but the song is not called Let the Sunshine In. So argue with your phone until it starts playing that song.
I forgot to mention this earlier, but at the beginning of the day, you should have run up or down the mountain to view the sunrise. This is important for the next part of the day. Go to the pool and swim a lap. This allows you to complete the Longest Day of the Year Triathlon.
Stay at the pool until lunchtime. Man, are we really only a third of the way through the day? Any other day, it would be time for a nap, but you can’t waste any of the summer solstice.
Hop in your car, get on the highway and drive in whatever direction you please with the windows down for a couple of hours. Go somewhere you’ve never been or rarely go. For example, I live in Denver. I would drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming. I never go to Cheyenne, Wyoming. This drive will take me about two hours. Get a beverage in this new place—look up the best milkshake or something. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, the best milkshake is at Sonic. So go to Sonic.
At the Sonic, make sure you make a really good social media post. You actually should have started posting on social media when you woke up. You need people to know that you’re celebrating the longest day of the year. It’s a movement after all.
Drive back to wherever you live. If you’re lucky, like me, on the drive back from Cheyenne, you can stop at Buc-ees! Get a lot of caffeine because there’s so much more daylight left.
Now, invite everyone over to your house for a barbecue. Make everyone tell you about their day, so you can brag about how much you did for the summer solstice.
Now, depending on where you live, you’ll have a few hours of daylight left or a lot of hours left (sorry, Seattle). You need to organize a sport you can all play without needing lights since it’s still light outside. Maybe you can get a baseball game going. If no one will play with you, play frisbee golf.
Finally, it’s time to watch the sunset. Find a hill that faces the sunset and watch from there. Reflect on your day. I read on social media that the sun is medicine. Think of how the sun’s healed you.
It’s also likely that you have a sunburn from all of this outside activity—especially on your left side after your several-hour drive. So come up with a plan to get some aloe vera.
For now, enjoy the sunset and the completion of the longest day of the year.