It’s here! Grab the pails, grab the towels, we’re… staying indoors? D’oh!

I must say that the month of June has been a right tease. In preparation for the warm season, I got a new bathing suit (and it makes me feel delicious in spite of post-baby belly artifacts (read: chub)), the little one has a swathe of cute suits, and we have blow-up pools here at work/the in-law’s house and at home. All we’ve needed is a few hours of sunlight and warmth to make it happen… it’s not too much to ask for… right?

Apparently it is – we’ve been getting rain galore as of late. I cannot complain too much; we’re in drought, and desperately need the moisture. This also keeps the temperature down, meaning that we’re not hitting 30C in our house; we live above a shop, so the heat from the A/C and other things in there rise up into our home. It’s great in the winter, but it’s a bit miserable in the summer, enough that we had to get or own A/C unit to combat the worst of the heat and humidity. Thankfully, we don’t need it that much, but it makes the difference between livable and whiny.

Still, it’s rare for me to get excited by summer; I’m much more a fan of the colder seasons.  A wise person once told me that there is no limit to how many garments you can put on, but there is, generally, a limit to how many you can take off (or you can take after Christine Lavin, ha ha). After all, what is there to look forward to? Sunburn? Pollen? People wearing ill-fitting tiny clothing when it would be kinder if they were nude (really – clothing makes people look much uglier than they do.)? Add in the fact that the ‘fun’ activity, swimming, is kind of hit or miss with me ’cause chlorine and I don’t get on that well. Between that charming sanitizing chemical and the fact I never wear contacts (so no sight in the water), I get a blazing headache in under an hour. I’m still tempted by biking, mind, but my fondest memories of that activity are inextricably tied to the autumn; I will always be in love with the smell of late October.

Having said that, I am looking forward to my first British beach holiday in the next month or so. Even if I don’t like sand in my suit, I tend to like oceans and playing in the sand. Plus, I’m excited that it’s a new-to-me body of water that is our probable goal – the North Sea. Granted, my first thoughts are ‘probably cold’ and ‘Russian subs’, but still.. viva la new experiences! As long as there aren’t jellyfish – I still have some severe dislike of the Gulf of Mexico around Galveston for the scarring jellyfish sting I received when I was a kidlette. It might be long faded now, but the memory still haunts and annoys me.

For now though… I’m going to glare out the window at the scudding clouds, and wait for another day to dunk my cutie into her first wading pool. Hope your day finds you well.

<3