The extended summer

 

It started last October when we went to Hawaii.  Two sun filled weeks where the weather was perfect the whole time.  Sure we had a little bit of rain when we drove to Hana, but who doesn’t.  It rains everyday there, for about 8 minutes. We had not only extended our summer but we were stretching it into next year.  By stretching I mean, having a lingering moment of remembrance that gets us through the winter. 

Christmas came and went as well as the New Year and I was off to San Diego for a couple of days in mid January.  Again beautiful nice short sleeve weather.  I had to be taken kicking and screaming to the airport for the return flight.  Have I mentioned I like warm?  A few short weeks later I’m asked if I could go to spring training in Phoenix for a week in March to be with a customer?  uh, Yeah!  So off we go to play in the 70 degree weather for a week.  I had a cold, a really irritating cold, but sitting outside by the pool made it more manageable. 

That was a wonderful mid winter surprise, but the big trip was yet to come.  Our trip to South America was a few days away and we were ready to play.  Summer was already happening there and I was a ready and willing participant.  We arrived to great weather and lots of outdoors activities.  We had an awesome time.  We got to experience the Buenos Aires last summer weekend before school started and it was filled with lots of boats, water and sunshine.  We couldn’t ask for a better segue into our own long hot summer.

Spring came and we had a few patches of dry really hot weather in May.  It was in the 90’s and we were sure that we were in for some hot stuff in the months ahead.  One of my favorites things to do in the summer is sit outside in the warm evenings and let the house cool off.  The light is fading so we light the torches and misc candles around the yard.  We plug in the strings of party lights and enjoy the atmosphere.  Then when we tire of that we turn out all the lights, blow out the torches and then lie down on the lawn chairs to look at the stars.  We’ve done that approximately 2 times this summer.  And it’s raining today.  And we’re on vacation.  And I don’t really care.  I’ve had a long extended summer and it’s been one of the best I’ve ever had.  I enjoy the weather when it’s nice, but it can’t be nice all of the time.  So I get it when I can and we’ve had lots of opportunities to get it this past year. 

It’s kind of a cool feeling to expereince the end of two summers in the same year.  It’s something that I’ve never experienced before.  Summer in South America was pretty awesome and something I’d do again.  But summer in Seattle is equally awesome and something that I get to do every year.  Now I’m thinking where can I go to experience two spring times in the same year.  Australia?  New Zealand?  Who knows. 

 

The very ironic thing is now that we are home to have summer, summer isn’t here.  We’ve had record rainfall in August and the high temp the other day was 56 degrees.  Maybe we will have a nice September.  The really really bad thing?  We have ZERO trips planned.  None, Nada zip, that’s the part that really sucks. Well it’s time to catch up on some reading anyway.