June's Return

Connecticut River from
Mitch's Marina, Hadley MA
Photo by Stephanie Oates (Stunning Images Photography, LLC)

There’s a hush in this one - a kind of radiant stillness just before the night takes over. This featured photo for June in the Head in the Clouds Amherst 2025 Wall Calendar is a rare night image, and that alone sets it apart. Taken by Stephanie Oates of Stunning Images Photography, it catches the precise moment when color refuses to leave quietly, flaring one last time across the sky and the Connecticut River below.

“My Dad used to dock our speed boat here in the 70’s,” Stephanie writes. “So, it was capturing an old memory in a new light...pun intended. It was beautiful beyond words.”

June begins summer, yes - but it also brings Summer Solstice, after which the days grow shorter. This photo leans right into that contradiction: the longest light, already slipping toward darkness. The edges of the clouds still burn with the sun’s final brushstrokes, while the planet turns, indifferent and dazzling.

Stephanie’s image doesn’t just show us the scene. It reminds us how memory and motion can converge. A return, and a letting go. The season, turning.

Thank you, Stephanie, for capturing that threshold.