Solstice. What is it? 
The Earth revolves around the Sun. It usually takes approximately 365 days for it to do this. This is where we get the 365 day year (or something like that?). 
The Earth also rotates/spins Eastward (the reason for the sun coming up in the East each morning). This usually takes approximately 24 hours, and is where we get the 24 hour day. 


Hotter after Summer Solstice and Colder after Winter Solstice?
Q: If the Summer Solstice is the time when the sun is most directly pointing down on us up here in the North, why does it continue to get even hotter than it is now after this date over the course of the next couple months while the sun's most direct point of contact is moving away to the south? 
A: Well, this is mostly due to the fact that in winter, this hemisphere is cooling down and it takes a while to heat it back up. The atmosphere is heating up all the time while the sun's direct point of contact is creeping northward. By the time it gets up to the Tropic of Cancer, it has done quite a bit of heating, but it was so cold to begin with that it still has a while to go. Remember, while it is once again moving southward towards the Tropic of Capricorn, it is still continuing to heat up the Northern Hemisphere. It's not until it goes past the Equator that it really lets up from the heating in a big way. Then, after it stops at the Tropic of Capricorn and starts to come back north, that's when it has finally cooled enough in the Northern Hemisphere (due to the lack of the direct sunlight) that it really starts to get cold up here (after the Winter Solstice). 
(entry added 20030621_0834, the Summer Solstice)

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