June
June
Thisfirst month of summer is said to derive its name from Juno, a Roman goddess, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated at the beginning of the month: its zodiacal sign is Cancer, which the sun enters on the 21st. Summer is now fully established, and even in New England the grumblers say nothing of easterly winds, and confess that it is warm enough. In the southern states, the people are beginning to fear the return of fevers; beside, the days and nights are there too hot for comfort—and, therefore, those who can leave home are about departing for the north.
The mower is now in the field with his scythe. At an early hour we hear the merry ringing of the stone upon the steel, as he is sharpening it. How beautiful now is the meadow—the orchard—the wheat field, the maize field, and the forest! How various and how brilliant the flowers; how fragrant the air—how balmy, yet how healthful the breeze!