It's at this time of year you begin to hear from two distinct camps. With just over a week to go until summer officially turns into fall, there are those folks who are lamenting the end to the most glorious of all seasons and those who are, for some curious reason, looking forward to colder temperatures, shorter days and a lot more rain.
Everyone has their own taste in weather, just as they do in food, music, literature and the like, so I fully admit it's not a case of being right or wrong, but let's just say those who prefer liquid sunshine are less right than the rest of us.
I live with one of those less right people, the kind that can't wait to roll out the welcome mat for the crisp, cool air that only autumn can bring. The changing colours, the falling leaves, the crackle of the fireplace ... it's a magical time of the year, or so I'm told.
Now, I'm not totally immune to the charms of fall, but come on, you have to admit that dark nights and incessant rain have a way of getting old in a hurry.
Any way you slice it, doesn't summer trump fall (and don't even get me started on winter!)? Isn't light better than dark? Hot better than cold? Dry better than wet? I know, it's a personal choice and, as my wife likes to point out, it's a little odd that a guy who can burn on a cloudy day in March would be such a cheerleader for summer.
I think I'd have more time for the other seasons if summer in these parts wasn't so fleeting. If it was one sunny day after the next for months on end, maybe all that sunshine would get old and the cooler weather would come as a welcome respite.
But once summer gives way to fall - and as well as it's hanging on at the moment, you know its days are numbered - we're going to be in for half a year or more of what you could charitably call the umbrella season. Or maybe it should be called window scraper season or exorbitant heating bill season.
I realize we've got it just about as good as anywhere in Canada, so I shouldn't complain, but I view next weekend not merely as the arrival of autumn, but the beginning of an interminable wait for summer to re-appear. It's a bit like Boxing Day when you were a kid: there were 364 more sleeps before Christmas came around again.
Well, we've got nine more sleeps until the fall equinox, so hopefully Mother Nature is in a charitable mood and the good weather holds on until at least that time. It won't return for another nine months, so savour what's left of summer.
