Waiting

I don't like summer. I really don't. And I feel like I've come by my dislike for summer honestly, for two reasons.

First, I live in a place where the summers are absolutely miserable. Right now it's 100.6 degrees outside. There's no way in the world anyone could enjoy this. It was even worse when I was a kid. Growing up in Argentina, we lived in a place where the climate was very similar to here, but we had no air conditioning. My parents eventually got a window unit in their bedroom and on the most uncomfortable of nights my sister and I were allowed to sleep on their bedroom floor. Then, the year before we left, my parents got a window unit for MY room, on the condition that I had to let my little sister sleep in there with me. TOTALLY worth it. But most of the time, our house was just hot.

Secondly, I've had more than my fair share of summers. Since we often traveled back from Argentina after the summer there (and into the summer here), in my 32 years of existence I figure I've gone through something like 35 summers and only 29 winters.

So as the season wears on, I begin looking forward to those little hints that the end is in sight. The summer solstice is a good example. Sure, it's the official start of the summer season, but from this point forward the days are getting shorter, which helps some. It's also nice when the summer movie season winds down. Once The Dark Knight comes out, most of the blockbusters will have come and gone, and so we can start talking about the fall movie season.

But my first real sign of the end of the season came in the mail yesterday:

That's right, it's a flyer for a fall clothing sale. A subtle thing, to be sure, but there it is. Soon, the back-to-school ads will start, and I can start smiling smugly at the little kids out on the street, throwing baseballs and riding their little punk-scooters until late at night, threatening to wake my children who have to be in bed at 7:30. Their time will come soon, a time when they'll have to be in bed at a decent hour as well.

And then maybe, just maybe, it won't be quite so hot outside...