Goodbye Sun. Hello Rain.

Summer’s just about done for those of us in the Pacific Northwest. We had a warm and sunny summer that’s now giving way to the fall, and while it’s inevitable, it’s somehow still a shock. It’s as though Mother Nature turned on the Autumn Switch because last week temperatures were in the eighties with blue skies, and this week temperatures have dropped into the sixties with clouds and rain.

It’s a harsh adjustment to make. The long summer days are a luxury that’s hard to give up because you know what’s in store for you in the coming months: drizzle, mist, sprinkles, downpours—and any other synonym for rain. And of course, let’s not forget overcast skies and cold temperatures and darkness. Sure there’s a rare day of sunshine and blue skies in the colder months, but it’s sandwiched between a lot of cloudy and rainy days.

I complain, but really, I do like having seasons that are overtly noticeable because changing seasons breaks up the year and gives me a sense of time. Also I really like being able to change my clothes with the seasons; I may not be particularly excited about the impending cold and rain, but I am looking forward to wearing autumn clothing. I really like wearing layers and wearing warm and cozy items, and I love boots and coats and scarves. [Pause.] So I guess every cloud really does have a silver lining (albeit that cloud is bound to rain on me soon enough).

So Sick of Summer

A couple of months ago I semi-complained about the lackluster summer we’d been having in Oregon with the seemingly never-ending cloudy and cool days. This past week made me regret those words as temperatures were consistently in the mid-nineties and I was absolutely miserable. People who say they love hot weather are people with air-conditioning—and I’m not one of them.

It was a difficult week because of the heat, and it forced me to become both extra busy and extra lazy. The mornings and early afternoons were bearable enough, so I fell into a rhythm of trying to get everything done by 3pm (which wasn’t always possible, but I tried). The evenings were very unpleasant as the heat accumulated indoors leaving me feeling hot and tired and irritable.

Thus evenings became chunks of unproductive time. I lost all motivation to do anything; it was just too much effort to think, let alone move. All I wanted to do was stretch out like a cat in front of the television and eat ice cream (which I did, but it hardly helped me feel much better). I pretty much came to the conclusion that I was sick of summer. I was tired of having a bowl of cereal for dinner because it was too hot to cook. And I was tired of the heat disturbing my sleep. And most of all I was tired of hours being wasted because I was too hot to do anything.

So I’m hoping that the height of summer has finally passed. Yesterday the temperature finally went down a good ten degrees and I look forward to a much cooler week. With more temperate weather brings a more temperate (and more motivated) me, and I’m hoping that I can finally get stuff done. So bring on the clouds…I’ve missed you.

The Summer that Wouldn’t Come

A week ago summer officially began, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way to me. I know that when many people think about Oregon, they think rain. And I’m not going to lie—it rains quite a bit here, a steady stream of drizzles, sprinkles, showers, downpours and mists that comes down on a regular basis throughout the year. Yet summer is a different story. Generally when summer hits, it’s sunny, dry and warm. [Pause.] However that hasn’t really been the case so far this “summer”.

Last night I could hear rain falling on the roof and this morning it’s gray and cool; the high today is suppose to be 72 degrees (which I guess is fairly average for us), but it won’t feel like summer with an overcast sky. Apparently I’ll have to wait until July for the weather to get better. It will be nice to finally have consistently blue skies and to feel the warmth of the sun beaming down on me.

[Pause.] While I have complained about the drab summer, a part of me is secretly glad for the cloudy skies because I feel more productive when the weather is poor. When it’s sunny and beautiful outside, then I have more of that “I’m a kid trapped in school” mentality (when the teacher is talking and I only half listen because I’m staring out the window). Good weather is distracting.

And hot weather is miserable. Usually the weather is consistently warm in the summer, verging on hot. But there are always a few days when we hit near or past 100 degrees—and that’s when I lose all motivation to do anything; all I can do is sprawl out on the couch and watch TV with a fan blowing on me full blast (as I am someone without air conditioning). So while I’m looking forward to some sunny weather, a part of me is dreading when summer kicks into high gear and I’m dying from the heat (although that feels pretty far away right now…).