June
June holds the longest days of the year and spends them well. School lets out, the water is finally warm enough to argue about, and the light lasts so far into the evening that dinner keeps getting later without anyone deciding to make it so.
Days 152–181 · Sunset near 8:31
In Season
What the month is made ofAt the market
Strawberries at their peak and cherries just behind them. Snap peas, new potatoes, and the first zucchini — before anybody has grown tired of zucchini.
The light
The solstice, and then the almost imperceptible turn. For three weeks either side of it, the evening simply does not end.
The water
Warm enough by the end of the month almost everywhere, and empty compared to July. This is the good half of the swimming season.
The rituals
The last day of school, Father's Day, Juneteenth, and the wedding you are flying somewhere for.
What to Wear Now
Light, but not yet looseCotton over linen
June is not hot enough to need linen and not cool enough for anything heavier.
One good dress-up
It is wedding season. Have the thing that works in a hot church.
Sandals, broken in
Wear them around the house for a week before you take them anywhere.
The June List
Four things worth owning this monthA cooler that seals
Four months of use starts now. Buy the one with the good lid.
See it →A wide-brim hat
Unfashionable for one summer, then permanent.
See it →The picnic blanket
Backed, washable, big enough for four.
See it →A charcoal chimney
Ends the lighter fluid era of your life.
See it →july.us may earn a commission.