Summer Solstice. The longest day of the year, the first day of Summer, the day when the Earth's movement puts the Sun at its furthest position above the Equator. But for true lovers of Summer, and that definitely includes me, it is a two-edged sword, because the Summer Solstioce slso marks the beginning of the inexorable slide into winter; the Sun, after a brief rest at the solstice, heads south, days start getting shorter, worshippers of Ra begin the all-too-brief countdown to... the Dead Season.
However, this color scheme does not reflect the downside of the solstice, rather it is a brave attempt to ignore it. In a supreme act of sublimation, I have chosen to put aside my native pessimism and fill my -- and your -- computer screen with the light and color of the warmest, brightest, and, yes, best season of the year. (You have to make allowances for the fact I live in Northern California, Mark Twain's remark that the coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco, notwithstanding.)
Thanks for giving Summer Solstice a try. It has been produced as a plug-in for the Kaleidoscope 1.5 (and later) control panel, created by Gregory D. Landweber (greg@math.harvard.edu) and Frederick J. Bass. If you don't have Kaleidoscope, it can be downloaded from Greg's website at http://www.kaleidoscope.net. You can find almost every color scheme ever made, including all of mine, at The Kaleidoscope Scheme Archive (Eric Reid, Webmaster, http://www.kaleidoscope. net/schemes).
The Summer Solstice package includes the color scheme, including a "Light" version, without system icons, and a folder of desktop patterns. After installing Kaleidoscope in your Control Panels folder, simply drop Summer Solstice in the Kaleidoscope Color Schemes folder which goes in your Extensions folder. Then open the Kaleidoscope control panel and select Summer Solstice. To install the desktop patterns, open your Desktop Patterns control panel and drop the patterns on the open Desktop Patterns window and select the one you want. (Personally, I like # 1, but to each his or her own!) The new icons will magically appear when you restart your Mac.
Though it should be functional at all color depths, please note that Summer Solstice will look best on computers capable of 1000s of colors or more.
Summer Solstice is opinionware; if you have strong feelings about it, send them along via E-mail. As a dedicated Mac-type, I am committed to the pursuit of quality in all things, so let me know what you think -- I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong!
The Small Print: All artwork in this color scheme is copyrighted. Please do not use it for any purpose, without my prior approval. It may be freely distributed as long as it is not altered and this docu mentation accompanies it. Prolonged use of Summer Solstice without adequate sunscreen protection is not recommended, although nothing will happen if you don't use it; it just wouldn't be Summer without that sensuous greased-up feeling, would it?
