Fittingly, children powered the Earth float in Saturday’s Solstice Parade on Orcas Island. Photo by Thomas Willard.
HAPPY SOLSTICE! It’s almost 10 p.m. and there’s still a good bit of light in my Center Island sky this evening. It’s the longest day of the year.
I marked summer’s debut yesterday with a visit to neighboring Orcas Island, where my friend Tom hosted me at the annual Solstice Parade through the village of Eastsound. It was a celebration of island whimsy and gentle spirit, with human-powered floats, wacky costumes, a winged woman on stilts, a baton-twirling drill squad and much more.
Here are a few of my favorite images from the parade.
Islanders of every age paraded elaborate costumes and exhibited high spirits. We welcomed the summer sun’s return to the San Juans.Nothing says summer like a flamingo-headed wild woman in a lacy pink skirt. Photo by Thomas Willard
A former travel and outdoors editor at The Seattle Times, I'm now exploring Washington's San Juan Islands on my classic runabout and trying not to smash my fingers with the hammer while I fix up my island cabin.
View all posts by Brian J. Cantwell
What fun. And you had a perfect day for it!
Joy and hope .