The What?

[lindaj]

So, there I was in the Physical Therapist's office, standing at the front desk, making another appointment or two before I left. I made an appointment for next Wednesday, and then suddenly realized that I couldn't do it then. I explained to the nice woman at the desk that I needed to change the date, because I was attending a wedding that day. No, earlier in the day wouldn't help, as the wedding is scheduled 3pm, and it's a 2.5 hour drive away.

3pm on a Wednesday, the woman asked? Isn't that a bit odd?

Well, yes, I admitted, it is a little odd, but the couple wanted to be married on the solstice.

"The what?" she asked.

"The solstice," I said. "The Summer solstice."

"The what?"

"The solstice. The, um, well...solstice." She stared at me blankly. I stared back. I racked my brain. "The first day of Summer," I said. "You know...Summer? The first day? They wanted to be married on the first day of Summer."

"Ohh. Well, isn't that nice."

*blink*

Comments

[gorgo.livejournal.com]

I can see someone not getting the potential religious implications of the solstice, but not knowing the term? Back to grade school for you!

[lindalee.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have been at all surprised if she couldn't fathom the significance...but not knowing what a solstice was sort of baffled me.

[skitten.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I had HEARD of the solstice before encountering Bu and Eva...
but didn't really care or know what the term meant...
Sounds like she took it a step further and just completely forgot she had ever been taught the term...
wowo...

[tigira.livejournal.com]

As I said last night, it sounds like someone didn't pay attention in HS Freshman science (or, in some school districts, middle school science).

[nihilrien.livejournal.com]

Who knows; the way things are in some areas, it might have been decided that that term was not acceptable for teaching, because of the non-Christian implications, or it could have been felt that it was just archaic. I know in the rural area where I grew up, that term was never used, nor was Equinox. It was simply "first day of" spring, summer, fall, etc., even in science classes. I only knew Equinox from my own reading of astronomy books in my spare time, and I had never heard the term Solstice until well after college, when I moved to Minneapolis and started meeting Pagans.

[nihilrien.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is veshengri's student/assistant/*insert attempt at categorization here* Ryan, btw.

[thomb.livejournal.com]

What are the non-Christian implications of "solstice"?

[frodo-jim.livejournal.com]

cmyriam would say that she has 2K for a brain.