Summer 2021 began in the northern hemisphere at 11:32 PM on June 20, 2021. I thought that it technically began on June 21, 2021. 11:32 PM is close enough, so let us say that this article is, for all ordinary intents and purposes, being published on the first day of summer. What better way to usher in summer than with something summery? I had just the photo in my collection for the occasion – a butterfly in Manhattan’s Battery Park:
I took this photo with my BlackBerry Classic at 9:35 AM on August 22, 2019. Why was I in Manhattan so early in the morning? The Thunderbirds of the U.S. Air Force and the Red Arrows of the Royal Air Force, accompanied by other military aircraft, flew over New York City that morning. I took the butterfly photo a minute or two before the planes appeared overheard. The flyover was definitely the highlight of the morning and the reason for my early trek, but I was glad to catch the summer butterfly crashing the patriotic scene.
I will post my small BlackBerry Classic photos of the flyover, which I rediscovered while double-checking the details of my butterfly photo, here at The New Leaf Journal in the near-future. In the meantime, you can read the story of my seeing an April 2020 military flyover of New York City and see the best version of my photos of it in a two-part series.