June 02nd, 2026

 Welcome to June!  Can you believe it?  May zipped by so quickly that I got a bit of wind burn as it passed me.  Bye Bye May and Howdy do to June.

June is a very busy month, especially for a non-real holiday month.   There are days of note of course (which is different from an actual holiday)  Let's see, Flag day on the 14th, Father's Day on the 21st which is also the first day of summer, and of course, Juneteenth on the 19th.  That one was only made official in 2021 by Federal Law though it's been unofficially celebrated since 1866.  Traditionally, June is also the month of weddings and graduations!  Woohoo, an entire month of celebration! Never a bad thing.

Then of course here in the sunshine state, June 1st is the beginning of both our Rainy Season and Hurricane Season, which makes perfect sense. Additionally, locally, this is month two of the six months of Sea Turtle Nesting Season. Yup, that's a real thing.

Personally, June is the month of my late mother's birthday.   She's been gone now for 14 years but still, sometimes, like around her birthday, I acknowledge that there is a still a little empty spot in my heart which is just her size.

The origin of the name June is a little muddled.  There are several theories. It could be (and most scholars believe this to be the most likely) that June was taken from  Juno, the Goddess of Marriage and childbirth.  And I just this minute connected why June is a traditional wedding month!  Interesting.  But it's possible that the name June came from" iuniores"  which means "younger ones" going back to the childbirth connection I suppose.  And it's also possible that the name was selected to honour the founder of the ancient Roman Republic, Lucius Junius Brutus. 

As I said earlier, June  21st is the first official day of summer which is also the longest day of the year.  On that same day anyone in the Arctic Circle may be experiencing the Midnight Sun with continuous daylight!   The full moon of June is also called the Strawberry moon. Awww that's sweet.  It was named so by Algonquin Native Americans as this was the time of their strawberrry harvest. Makes perfect sense.

I did not know this part until I looked it up but the month of June actually has 3 different birthstones!  Interesting, I honestly believe every month got one gemstone assigned to it but nope, June has 3: Pearl, Moonstone and Alexandrite.   June is not my birthmonth but I've also had a great fondness for moonstones.  Once upon a time I had an antique pendant necklace with a massive moonstone in it which sadly, I lost in a robbery.  I hope whoever has it now loves it as much as I did.

While June has 3 birthstones it only has two official flowers (again I foolishly thought it was a one and done situation - wrong again!).  Those flowers are roses and honeysuckle and I do love both of those. Pretty much any fragrant flower is my flower of choice.

If you follow Astrology  you already are aware that the front part of June are Gemini's and the last part (from the 21st forward) are Cancer's.  Twins and crabs.  Or perhaps crabby twins? Twin crabs?  I don't follow astrology but I do occasionally read my daily horoscope in the newspaper since it's on the same page as the comics.  It seems to always be completely wrong or wildly generic soI only give it an occasional passing glance.

There are of course, other days of note. I think there is at least one special designation for every single day of the year. Some of the ones I particularly like in June are:  Donut Day which is June 5th; Rocky Road Day which is today!  Is it too late to run out for ice cream? and International Children's Day which already happened on  June 1st.

It will come as no surprise to learn that there were some famous folks born in June, amoung them :  Anne Frank, Marilyn Monroe, George Orwell and  George H.W. Bush.  And  my mother too which I already mentioned. She was famous in our lives :)

When I think of June, my first thought is always nostalgic, the beginning of Summer Vacation.  Somewhere in the month of June each and every year of my childhood, every single kid in the neighborhood was set free. We ran amuck all day long, getting dirty, yelling, running, laughing, playing, running up and down the streets riding bikes, climbing trees, roller skating, playing tag, drinking from whichever garden hose was nearest and only going home when the porch lights came on.  After dinner perhaps a wee bit more subdued, we went back outside to catch lightning bugs, play afterdark tag which wasn't all that dark since all the porch lights were on and sometimes eat jello parfaits under the streetlight  on the corner.  

When I was a little older getting out of school for the summer meant, summer jobs, time to earn some money!~ A little older and summer meant getting to hang out with my own kids all day every day which was the Best Time Ever! 

​ Nowadays June means keeping in mind Hurricane prep to have certain things on hand, just in case and the Air Conditioning bill climbing, the windows being firmly closed and taking an umbrella with me, or at least a small zippy bag for my phone and hearing aids, whenever I leave the house.

Wishing each and every one of you a Very Happy June!

Hugs all 'round