Summertime.

Every Labor Day I sit back and reflect on summer. Why did it go so fast? Why does winter last so much longer? I end with---I wish it were Memorial Day again. There is little doubt we live for summer up here to the North. Sure there are people, many of them, who love winter and what it brings to our climate. Frankly, I don’t understand where they are coming from.

If you have been to Chicago during the summer, you know this is the time of the year to be here. We have cooler summers than many other areas of the U.S. but it still is warm. Just not as hot typically. We have had hot summers---all you have to do is travel back 15 years ago and you will step into one of the hottest summers on record here. More than 700 people lost their lives to the heat. It happened when elderly people, mostly, literally baked alive within their homes. They didn’t have air conditioning and they kept their windows closed; from that summer on, the city has taken on a completely different role to make sure this type of loss doesn’t happen again.

Summer was always my favorite time of year when I was growing up; playing baseball, hanging out with friends, and going on our family vacation was what we did. It was a great way to grow up---I only remember one time when it was unbareable and sure enough, that was the year our air conditioner went kaput. It was fixed a couple of days later and boy was that a great day.

The photo above was taken of one of my daughter’s toes sticking through the play area at the swimming pool. Walking around in bare feet, with sand, grass and water in between your toes, there is nothing better as far as I am concerned. If you love summer, make the most of it---if not, don’t worry the miserable weather will be back before you know it.

Thanks for stopping by.