Hazy, crazy, not-so-lazy days of summer

Summer is about to come back with a tropical vengeance.

This summer has been a bit of a mixed bag. It got off to a late start, but was fairly pleasant through May and June, with only the occasional horror storm putting a shingle through our front window or tearing shingles off our house or sending a tornado right through the heart of our shopping district shortly after the shops had closed for the night. But aside from those incidents, and a few flash floods, this was really one of the nicest summers I can remember in a while..until mid-June, around the time of the Osterhout book sale, when temperatures soared and humidity spiked.

That's where things have stayed since then, mostly, until this past week. We've actually had a few cool, pleasant days with low humidity. It became possible once again to do lawn work or even just walk around outside without fear of dying of heatstroke while drowning from simply breathing the air.* But in the next few days, temperature and humidity are both expected to soar. I will be glad to be at work and have a good excuse for not being outside doing things.

This has been a very busy summer, and a very strange one. With our dryer broken, I've been hanging the laundry out to dry or taking it to the laundromat, both more time-consuming than simply tossing it into the dryer. I have a friend who has had some issues that have involved two extended hospitalizations and a hell of a lot of fear and stress for all involved. I'm dealing with the impending loss of my job. I'm trying to not completely disappoint my mom for her eighty-fifth birthday, which is coming up in less than two weeks. Oh, and a major open-secret sex scandal in the Catholic Church is now suddenly the topic of conversation for everyone. And Donald Trump and his gang still occupy the White House.

But, in any event, here's hoping that the weather cools off a little bit, at least before we plunge straight into the jaws of another Fimbulvinter.


*A side note: I noticed an educational "weather station" in Nanticoke's city park today. One panel explained the water cycle, and noted that water that falls as rain into streams and lakes is then heated by the sun, turns into steam, and becomes clouds. I'd be more comfortable if they called it water vapor - steam forms when water boils, and the sun isn't causing that to happen just yet.