Late July through most of August is the time of the lion sun. It must’ve been easy for ancient stargazers lying on sand dunes to imagine the fierce, focused eyes of the predator and his yellow and gold mane bursting from the sun at this time of year.

After the summer solstice, I begin to long for these days, and when they arrive, I bask in the glory of blue skies and radiant heat. I head to the beach for a few precious moments of full blast, midday glory.

I float in the ocean, then rinse off the salt and sand at the outdoor shower, turning my face to the lion sun, cooling my burning skin in the stream of water. I do this as often as I can because the deep, penetrating radiance of these days only lasts a few weeks, and then it’s gone for another year.

There’s so much illumination. At night the shapes of cloud columns glow dimly in the dark.

When I moved to South Florida, I thought I’d shrivel in the heat and intensity. But I’ve learned to take it in small doses, like medicine. A full body x-ray exposing what needs to heal. Shedding light on what’s broken.

After 15 years, I feel now that I’d shrivel without the light. I crave the crystal clarity of these days of the lion. Days when the trees and grass shimmer and flash like diamonds.

Has an unexpected place ever gotten under your skin? Have you ever changed climate zones? Has a place ever changed you?

My closet used to be filled with black. I wanted to be covered. I had a lot to hide. But such darkness in dangerous, unnatural in this heat. I’ve learned to shed lots of things in South Florida. One can get by living light.

In this time of sun and sea water, I am purified. Exalted. I roar inside. I see clearly the road ahead. I’m healed.

At dawn bright star Sirius marks the east. In the afternoons, clouds amass like giant wings of angels, whisps across the sky. Birds glory in flight. At sunset planets simmer on the horizon. And in the darkeness, while we take repose, Earth passes through the Perseid cloud, and our nights are streaked with shooting stars from the debris of a comet’s tail.

The sun’s on full blast in the Northern Hemisphere. Stay awake. Don’t miss it. Open the eye of your eye. Sit still in silence. Bring down the glory of heaven. Roar like a lion.

-August 16, 2021