Summer Idyll

Here in Port Orchard the summer days slide by slowly and silently. Even the few cars passing on the street seem hushed and muted, and only the occasional complaint of a crow or song of a thrush ripples the warm, still summer air.

This is my ninth day here following my escape from California, and I haven't seen this kind of a string of unbroken, warm and sunny weather on Puget Sound since I was a kid growing up here. Over the years the persistence of cool, wet, cloudy conditions seems to have become more and more prevalent with every passing year.

Today the purple mountains, laced with a remnant of winter's snows, are beautiful. The cloudless blue sky and the still blue water reflecting it are beautiful. The trees and lush greenery are beautiful. Even the people are beautiful, if you don't get too close.

How much longer can this last? I'll report back on these conditions in a day or two.

Today I walked the two miles down Pottery Road to Albertson's and back again. On the return trip, carrying a backpack with a few groceries, I broke a heavy sweat trudging along under the warm sun, and my shirts got soaked through. When I was in Desert Hot Springs, I didn't think 75 or 76 degrees could possibly be enough heat to cause a person to perspire, but I was wrong.

Now it's time to go water the yard, and that's another thing most people here have forgotten how to do.