Summer in Seattle
While the rest of the country seems to be broiling to high degrees of summer doneness, our little upper left-hand corner in the Pacific Northwest is having the coolest, wettest spring and summer yet. Only four or five days have hit the mid-70s since last summer. The Parks Department lowered the temperature that triggers the filling of the wading pools around town—otherwise toddlers would have no place to splash except the rain puddles on the sidewalk.
We soldier on, however—Seattleites are used to grilling in the rain. We bundle up and eat fast. Or we cook outside and then eat inside. A couple hours of sunshine sends us into a tropical daze. We're in our shorts and sandals in a flash, working in our gardens, washing cars, walking dogs.
Our gardens, yes. Very slow this year. Everything late. Hydrangeas think it's still April. Roses have done pretty well, though. But blackberries may not even ripen if we don't get a couple weeks of sunshine. Many of us have favorite spots for blackberry picking in parks, along roadsides and sidewalks, and our happy memories of annual blackberry pie feasts (not to mention scratched arms and blue-stained fingers) go back for decades.
Well, wherever you are, I hope your summer triggers some lovely, restorative downtime. Remember when you were a kid? Details like weather and food were just that, details. The big news was school was out and you had time to read and explore and hang out with friends and stay up late. So here's my summer advice to grown-ups: Just Do It.
