Battle stations, everyone!

“Summer is nearly over.”

That was Husband’s reaction to the fact that it was August 15th this past Monday.

My reaction is a bit different.  “Winter is just around the corner.”

Yes, it is. And that is depressing.

My brother was part of the conversation as well. He had been having similar thoughts. “Most of the time, when we are in the middle of the August heat, sweating and swatting the bugs, just the thought of cool, white, refreshing snow flakes makes me long for the summer to be over. Not this year.”

My continuing quest to figure out exactly why we are living in this place of long, dark, frigid,  snow-packed winters and hot, humid, mosquito filled summers bracketed by short spurts of fall and spring, has reached another brick wall. There is just no rational explanation.

On the few beautiful summer days when the humidity is low, the sun is high and the temperatures are moderately hot, I often hear comments such as “This is the kind of day that we dream of in January.”  Or this one: “This is what makes it worth living through the winters around here.”

My response? “No. No. No,  it doesn’t.”

There are many, many other places in the world. There are even many places in the U.S. where one does not have to suffer through five months of bone-chilling, eyeball-freezing winter. In fact, there are places where a person can enjoy the winter, play in snow, and yet avoid endangering their lungs by breathing in  air which is colder than a sub-zero freezer. Colorado, Northern California, Utah, Montana and Vermont come to mind.

Today is an absolutely stunning day. Bright blue sky. Sun shining between the leaves to highlight the brightly colored roses. A breath of a cool breeze coming in the windows. Low humidity, with a predicted pleasant high temperature of 80 F.

But I am having a hard time enjoying it. Instead of feeling the beauty of the day, I am feeling the threat of the winter lurking right behind it, just waiting to pounce with teeth and claws bared. We know it is coming. It is inevitable. There is nothing which can be done to prevent the attack.

The only way to avoid being victimized is to get out of the way. Run!

And yet, here we are, frozen (so to speak) in our tracks, eyes closed, waiting for the attack to be over. Hoping to make it through  another round of the battle in one piece. Why, oh why do I put myself through this?

No firm answers yet.

But today I have reaffirmed my assumption-we must be nuts.

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