Let's Not Complain About the Weather

My daughter and I just returned from a week of camping in the San Juan Islands.  I know, I know, it sounds so luxurious.  If only the weather had cooperated!!!  We drove up in the driving rain (no pun intended) on Thursday, it rained Friday and most of Saturday.  It cleared for a little while on Saturday evening.  On Sunday, it poured again.  The nice weather appeared after noon on Monday, stuck around on Tuesday.  By Wednesday it couldn't really stay nice, and it poured Wednesday night.  We drove home on Thursday through pounding rain.  Did you count the nice days?  Two!!!  I have been cold for 7 nights in a row!

Sofie came right home and announced that she wanted to get in to her pajamas at the same time that I was rushing around to each heater, turning all up full blast.  She agreed to get in a hot bath first, and soaked in there until the dirt came out from under her toenails and fingernails.  I made a cup of hot coffee and tried to scald my tongue.

We delightedly watched out the window as the wind blew the trees in the backyard, our first look at weather from inside in a week.

I have sworn this summer to not complain about the weather.  While the rest of the country has been red on the Weather Channel's map, we in the Pacific Northwest have been green.  While everyone else has been lying on the floor naked under their ceiling fans, we have been rifling our fleece drawers to find that medium-weight cozy sweater.  While there have been tornadoes and floods in the Midwest, we have had the company of our old friend, Rain.  Rain is nothing new to us, we know how to drive in it, how to live in it, how to deal with it.  Stop moping about the lack of heat and be glad that we aren't going to stores with air conditioning just to stay cool, playing in public fountains along with everyone else to wash that stickiness away, or lying awake all night with no covers on, hoping for the faintest breeze to come through that open window.  In the Northwest, we are still able to go on hikes and bike rides during the day without passing out after the first half mile from heat stroke, we can walk our dogs, send our kids out to play in the yard, and leave the windows and doors open to get some fresh air into the house.  What is there to complain about???