Summer is gathering in these long days and soon it is June. For some of us connoisseurs, these are the finest weeks of the year, when the fields move like water in the wind, before the grasses are bending under the weight of their amber spikelets and panicles.

Our plan is to observe all this with the Summer Solstice Observation and Festival of Fire, on the same day, June 21st.

The Summer Solstice Observation (or Double S/O) is straightforward. We stay awake through the shortest night of the year and consider when and where we are in the scheme of things and the larger scheme of things. It ends with sunrise on the 22nd. Maybe people tell ghost stories.

The Festival of Fire precedes the Double S/O. We gather and assemble wood for bonfires through the day and ignite them at the beginning of twilight. Between all this activity is eating, swimming and sipping drinks cooled with harvested winter ice from the Icehouse.

There are plenty of places to sleep indoors, but camping on the land is encouraged. Tickets include lodging, meals from Friday night through Sunday afternoon, and beverages both quaffable and ceremonial. Rides will be arranged on a case-by-case basis. Pickups can be arranged from the Greyhound bus station in Oneonta, a 20-minute ride from Franklin.