What's your favourite season, the husband asked some time ago.
Don't know why. But there was the question.
"Spring," I said. "No wait. Summer."
What wasn't there to love, I thought.
You had the windows flung open. You had the smell of teriyaki sauce drifting off the grill. You had seaside picnics and patio happy hours and sandals that showcased your pedicure.
You had mornings on decks and afternoons in swimming pools and evenings to lean back and gaze at the stars.
You'd hear the cracking of baseball bats and the whacking of screen doors and the whirring of back yard sprinklers. iWell, back in the day, anyway.
"Ask me again," I said to the husband last week.
"Ask me what my favourite season is."
He looked up from his paper.
"Go ahead," he said. "OK," I said. "Anything but summer."
What can I say: I'm completely summered out. I've had it with the sunshine. I've had it with the heat.
Granted, we've had a
reprieve. But not nearly enough, I say.
I wish it would rain nonstop.
No. Make that: I wish it would pour. I wish the clouds would gather and release a torrent for days on end.
Give me an old-fashioned cloudburst. Give me a drop of 10 degrees.
It's not that I don't love
teriyaki sauce and picnics and pedicures. But this summer's been a bit much.
After all, when you're West Coast born and bred, you're not exactly used to this.
Rain's in your blood. Drought, not so much.
I am ready, absolutely, to trade in the beach umbrella for the real umbrella. I am ready to swap the sandals for the galoshes.
I am ready, more than ready, to watch the front lawn have a drink.
Sure, it's been nice to wear the flip flips and the Hawaiian frocks, but I'm pining for a fashion change.
Give me jeans. And a hoodie. And a pair of woolly socks. Give me puddles to slosh in and leaves to collect. Give me an apple to eat on a trek through the woods. Give me farmers' fields that are heavy with mist.
Give me a crackling fire and a mug of hot tea.
Ask me to name my favourite season, and I'll be quick with a reply. At one time, it might have been summer, but right about now, it's fall.
