Happy Solstice!

Finally, it really feels like summer. Finally!

And it's perfect timing. The summer solstice occurred at 12:45 AM today.

I will celebrate, but not quite in the same way that some of the 36,500 people did at Stonehenge. I won't be beating any drums or chanting. I don't plan to get drunk or do anything illegal.

From the Associated Press:

Thousands of neo-Druids, New Age followers and the merely curious flocked to Stonehenge on Sunday, beating drums, chanting and dancing in celebration of the longest day of the year.

The ancient stone circle at the prehistoric monument in southern England is the site of an annual night-long party—or religious ceremony, depending on perspective—marking the northern hemisphere's summer solstice.

...Camera flashes bounced off the stones through the night until patchy rays of sunlight peaked through the clouds at 4:58 a.m. BST (0358GMT). A weak cheer went up as dawn broke and an estimated 35,000 people, some of them wrapped in blankets, greeted the sunrise.

"They come for a complete range of reasons," said archaeologist Dave Batchelor of English Heritage, the site's caretaker. "Some belong to the Druidic religion and think of it as a temple, others think of it as a place of their ancestors, or for tranquility and others come to see it as a way to celebrate the changing of the seasons."

...The solstice is one of the few times during the year that visitors can get close enough to touch the rocks. With record numbers attending the free festival because it falls on a weekend, extra police officers were on patrol.

Frank Somers, 43, an antique salesman, said he and other Druids came to Stonehenge to honor their ancestors.

"It's the most magical place on the planet," he said. "Inside when you touch the stones you feel a warmth like you're touching a tree not a stone. There's a genuine love, you feel called to it."

Police closed the site in 1984 after repeated clashes with revelers. English Heritage began allowing full access to the site again in 2000 and the celebrations have been largely peaceful.

Last year 17 arrests were made for minor public disorder offenses.

English Heritage said revelers would only be allowed to bring in four cans of beer or a bottle of wine each, and advised that "illegal drugs are still illegal at Stonehenge as they are anywhere else."

Revelers are allowed to bring in 4 cans of beer or a bottle of wine per person?

36,500 bottles of wine?

That's a party.

Merry Solstice, neo-Druids, Wiccans, and Pagans!

"Solstice Bless Us, Every One."