Still Getting Around to Summer

We are starting the second week of June, and it still doesn't feel like summer.

Maybe it's because the Stanley Cup Finals are in full swing, with the Detroit Red Wings looking like imminent champions.

Maybe because it's over two months into the 2009 Major League Baseball season, and I still haven't figured out if my beloved Detroit Tigers are a good team or not, regardless of the fact they are two and a half games up on Minnesota for the lead of the American League Central.

Maybe it's because we are still putting together our back yard – having just painted the back deck, and planting flowers and stuff in the gardens. The grass of our front lawn has been a constant battle with weeds and ants – and every time I think I have made some progress killing one kind of weed, another kind pops up all over.

Maybe it's because I have had only one golf outing - back in May – and was so disgusted by my shots off the tee that I am almost scared to play again. And it's not summer until I carry the clubs in the car every day.

Maybe it's because we are still in the process of opening the pool. The black tarp is still on, but we have the water filled and chlorine shock in the water with the filter on to clean it before we take the tarp off – hoping the black tarp with the sun on it will warm the water quicker.

I hope it works.

Maybe it's because even though the deck is now set up ready for hanging out – chairs and table are waiting - the umbrella poised and tilted to block the heat of the direct sun as we sit out back and listen to Tiger games on the radio - we just haven't sat out there very much.

Why?

It's been cool. It's been wet.

It just hasn't been summer yet.

"Be patient, the calendar says the first day is summer is June 21^st. At 1:45 AM."

True. But after waiting eight months for summer to reappear, the last week of June seems too late.

I always thought June was a summer month. Not just its last week, but a whole months worth.

I feel ripped off.

"But Fred, you just got through explaining that you're not even set-up for summer yet?"

That's very true. In fact there is a new barbeque sitting in its box in the garage still waiting for me to put it together.

Summer needs a barbeque you know.

So maybe it's not summer that's taking too long. Maybe it's just me?

That is one thing about living a northern lifestyle. You become more idle in the winter. You don't have to cut grass, or weed the garden. You don't open the garage door, roll out the pressure washer and your favorite wax and start detailing the cars.

In the winter you do house work. And you shovel the driveway if it snows. You fix stuff. You wash and fold clothes and put them away. You vacuum and dust. And you look for a good movie to watch with the kids on a weekend afternoon.

But in summertime, the workload ramps up.

Because all that same housework still has to be done. And the outside stuff has to wait.

And every year the summer stuff gets harder.

Harder to kneel to plant flowers.

Harder to bend to pick weeds.

Harder to yank on that lawn mower's pull chord twenty five times until the engine finally kicks over. And heavier to push.

So I guess it is true.

Every year it takes me a bit longer to get around to summer.

But I better get moving, June 21^st is coming fast.