Summer Begins
I'm having a hard time believing that it's summer. According to the calendar it's the first day of summer, the solstice. In Seattle that means [consults charts] the sun rose at 5:11am and will set at 9:11 pm. In a land where the winter days are short, dark, and rainy the longest day of the year is something to look forward to. I always feel just a little melancholy about the passing of the summer solstice because it's like cresting the wave that will, however slowly, be gliding downward to deposit us back into darkness where the sun sets at 4:20pm. 8 hours of daylight compared to 16 hours of daylight is a big swing and around here it always seems just a little bit harder to get to the top than the bottom. (Maybe that's just my innate pessimism showing through, huh?)
So far this year I have felt only the glimmers of spring. Seattle is currently 3" above normal precipitation for the year. In all of May and so far in June we've had below average temps; we've had a measly five days where we've hit 70 degrees and three of those were when I was in Alaska. Friends in other parts of the country have long been discussing the turning on of air conditioners, swimming, barbecuing, and "escaping the heat" while I've still got all the winter blankets on the beds. My poor, sad little garden boxes are stunted... no tomato bonanza this year, I think. As I write this it's a damp, cloudy 56 degrees, though we may get as high as 65. Our neighborhood committee got a grant and planned community party with free ice cream for last weekend but, as the coordinator e-mailed on Saturday, "no amount of fleece could make ice cream taste good in this cold, rainy weather" so they canceled and are hoping to reschedule for Wednesday, predicted to be the warmest day of the year so far at a whopping 74 degrees.
Today is Kate's last full day of school. There's a short day tomorrow but for all purposes, school is finally over. Tonight is her 8th grade graduation ceremony but last week the kids went on a planned trip to the water park as a class, their informal celebration. It was 63 degrees that day, and drizzly. Today is "field day" at Orca, a time when we imagine the kids romping in the sports field and playing outdoor games in a summery atmosphere. Maybe not so much with the "summery" this year.
For those of you having actual summery weather for the summer solstice (apologies to my friends down under for this Northern-Hemisphere-centricness) please enjoy it for me. Have a cold one, eat some ice cream, flip a burger, walk in the sunshine, whatever. I'll be joining in eventually but not today. Not quite today.
So far this year I have felt only the glimmers of spring. Seattle is currently 3" above normal precipitation for the year. In all of May and so far in June we've had below average temps; we've had a measly five days where we've hit 70 degrees and three of those were when I was in Alaska. Friends in other parts of the country have long been discussing the turning on of air conditioners, swimming, barbecuing, and "escaping the heat" while I've still got all the winter blankets on the beds. My poor, sad little garden boxes are stunted... no tomato bonanza this year, I think. As I write this it's a damp, cloudy 56 degrees, though we may get as high as 65. Our neighborhood committee got a grant and planned community party with free ice cream for last weekend but, as the coordinator e-mailed on Saturday, "no amount of fleece could make ice cream taste good in this cold, rainy weather" so they canceled and are hoping to reschedule for Wednesday, predicted to be the warmest day of the year so far at a whopping 74 degrees.
Today is Kate's last full day of school. There's a short day tomorrow but for all purposes, school is finally over. Tonight is her 8th grade graduation ceremony but last week the kids went on a planned trip to the water park as a class, their informal celebration. It was 63 degrees that day, and drizzly. Today is "field day" at Orca, a time when we imagine the kids romping in the sports field and playing outdoor games in a summery atmosphere. Maybe not so much with the "summery" this year.
For those of you having actual summery weather for the summer solstice (apologies to my friends down under for this Northern-Hemisphere-centricness) please enjoy it for me. Have a cold one, eat some ice cream, flip a burger, walk in the sunshine, whatever. I'll be joining in eventually but not today. Not quite today.