If you’re reading this, it means I managed to upload this month’s Monthly Movie to YouTube; I also got this post uploaded, too!
It’s ironic, but appropriate, that June’s Monthly Movie included a tour ship, one of the ones that bring swarms of visitors to our communities, swamping our available phone networks, essentially blacking out our internet connectivity for most of each week during the summer.
But, I confess, I planned it this way.
I shot the movie on the Summer Solstice. I actually filmed the ship in the video, the Silver Muse, on its way north around noon on June 21st. But, the light felt flat, and the whole thing uninteresting. I much preferred trying again in the evening, around 9:00 p.m., to show just how much daylight we had at that time of day on Midsummer’s Eve.
We enjoyed a sunny Solstice, as seemed entirely appropriate. The sun set after 10:00 p.m. I have the exact moment of “official” sunset, but I don’t know what that means with substantial mountain ranges on both horizons. It didn’t much matter—we’d gone to bed long before that!
The Silver Muse passes beneath “L.C. Mountain” on the summer solstice (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Now, to be fair, while the Silver Muse contributes to our internet blackout, it’s not entirely responsible for it. She’s what we call a “small” tour ship. She’s so much smaller than the megaships that now cruise our waters (see Living With Cruise Ships (Part 3)), yet much larger than the little boats that visit (see It Starts . . . .). We appreciate their business, of course.
I just wish they’d turn their phones off now and then, so we can get some work done around here!