Un-August blog.

Here it is August, and the right thing to be doing is wilting under a hot and copper sky. The spring green needs to be off the trees, replaced with a more tired green, and the carpet of grass should be brown. August should make you eager for the first hint of a cooling wind, maybe over Labor Day, to remind you that Arctic blasts lie ahead.

Not this year. Epic rains characterized a cool May. June never really got hot, though we had all the accoutrements of summer. July was dry, and had its moments in the sun (literally), but only a few. We had heat for a few days as this month began, but by yesterday morning, it was cool again -- 60s F in the afternoon today.

No accounting for it. It’s been a cool summer in North America. My relatives told me that even in Texas, 100 F (35+ C) has been rare this year, and that’s a place where such temps can start in May and run through to September. (The record-breaking summer of 1980 in Texas was like that: grindingly, endlessly hot.)

Best not to complain, though. A cool Summer makes for pleasant walking and good sleep. Complain about it now, and -- pagan as it is to feel this way -- Winter will take note and come for a long, long visit, starting soon.