Signs of Summer

I know -- winter isn't over yet, but it is always summer in my head.

I am a left-side sleeper and the window next to the bed faces primarily to the south. 
A couple of nights ago, I woke up around 3 AM. I opened my eyes and saw the clock on the nightstand and noted the time. Then my gaze shifted to look out the window and I thought -- "Hey, that's the constellation Scorpio!"
It made me smile and then I went back to sleep.

The Scorpion is a summer constellation.

It is still a few days until spring begins.
If you live in the northern hemisphere and have a sunny day:
Stand outside at noon (local STANDARD time) and your shadow will point to true north.
As summer ends in the southern hemisphere, your shadows will point due south.
It's just one of those equinox things.

As we look forward to longer days in the northern hemisphere, it dawns on me (yes, that's an astronomical pun) that people living near the equator never get to experience the joy of longer periods of sunlight. They pretty much get 12 and 12 all year long.
It's weird that I haven't really thought about that before.

John