june is sandwiched between scene-stealing months.

may is glorious in its sudden greenness with the new growth taking over after months of dormancy. the weather is finally warm, and there are days when you finally feel like you can take off a couple layers while outdoors instead of adding layers. the month ends with (for many) the first paid holiday since january. it’s the “start of summer” even though still technically in spring.

july is bold and bright, snagging the limelight with the bold and bright independence day holiday. july is the height of summer, though summer continues on for another two months afterward. it’s warm and hot and green and steals the spotlight. if there were ever an extroverted month in this country, july would be it.

in between nestles june, silently warming up and taking may’s bright green and mellowing it out into summertime greens. the holidays are mellow as well: flag day and father’s day and now juneteenth. the most exciting thing about june is the absolute pinnacle of light during year during the summer solstice and the two weeks of long light on either side of the date. at the beginning of the month, the frogs are still croaking at night and delicate spring flowers bursting, but at the end, june has fully settled into summertime crickets in the ditches and hardy flowers that will hold blooms for the next couple months.

and somehow, june slips by so silently and fully that it’s hard to remember that just a month earlier, we were excited by the new growth and springtime. we don’t notice when the frogs stop and the crickets begin. last year’s cattail remnants were swallowed up by the new sometime in the past three weeks. we’re still in the blush of springtime with eyes on summertime.

every year i tell myself that i will slow down and enjoy june. every year i miss it.