Goodbye, June Gloom!

There is really only one time per year when Seattle's weather gets to me. Sure, the short, dark, and wet days of November through January are a bit tiresome, especially when commuting via bike, but it's winter. It's dark and cold everywhere, and at least here it's never too cold to bike to work. I love that spring here comes in February and that fall really starts in September. It's just that period between Memorial Day and July 5th that can get me down. We get a few weeks of beautiful warm spring weather in May, often enough to convince ourselves that summer has really arrived, just to be chased by grey skies and cool temperature come Memorial Day weekend. When I was a kid in Virginia, Memorial Day weekend meant the first trip to the beach and/or the pool where I'd get my first sun burn of the summer (yes, I know I'll be paying for that soon). Here, it means pretending that it's warm while the grill is the warmest thing about Memorial Day and 4th of July barbecues.

That all ended on Friday, however, and summer is here! By the time I took a shower, the sun was already high in the sky, and I was sweating as I ate breakfast. I'm excited about swimming for the first time in months and am planning a swim in Lake Washington after work tonight. Now it really feels like Tour-de-France-watching, ice-cream-eating, hefeweizen-drinking, Mariners-watching, long-bike-riding, open-water-swimming, ferry-riding, island-road-tripping time.

Welcome, Summer, to Seattle!