Yesterday was the longest day of the year, or rather the day with the most number of daylight hours. Roughly 18 hours of daylight. For me, these days around the summer solstice are the hardest. Many people dread the winter solstice and the days, weeks, of near constant gloom and darkness, but many Seattleites prefer the gloom. These intensely bright, hot days of early summer are our true bane.

And one more thing: the crows. This time of year appears to be when young northwestern crows begin to venture forth from the nest. The adult crows, which are naturally protective of their young, are very aggressive and vocal, to such a degree that you sometimes need to steer clear of a noisy grouping in the trees or power lines overhead. But the constant racket these otherwise admirable birds produce is enough to make the Quaker in you reach for the shotgun.