I was reminded again this morning about why I hate summer--and spring. I woke up this morning at 5:45--over an hour before my body's clock wants me to wake up. I could not get back to sleep. This kind of thing throws my whole day off. It's not surprising--this happens to me every year. I dread moving the clocks forward an hour in the spring because I know what's coming. I will spend months waking up too early and feeling tired all day until later on at night when I will finally feel awake. I have always been a night owl by nature. I am not interested in being the early bird catching the worm. I have a worm bin, so if I really want a worm, I know where to find it. I would rather sleep until 7 or 7:30, thanks all the same. It does no good for me to try to compensate for this earlier rising time by going to bed earlier. I don't usually sleep well before midnight. Better if I am going to bed at 12:30 or 1.
It is warm enough now that we need to have a couple of windows open or it gets too stuffy in here. This morning I sat in the living room sipping my morning coffee and listening to a guy across the street cutting down shrubs with a chainsaw before 9 o'clock. Cars and motorcycles were roaring down the road with their windows open, often with music blasting into the air. Soon there will be lawn mowers and grass pollen making my throat burn. Already I have to stuff a tissue up my nose upon waking so I don't drip all over the place. My sinuses are alternately scratchy and congested. My lungs are filling; I am coughing; and my throat often burns.
It is so bright! That sun drives me crazy. I will admit, Maine is much, much better than Klamath Falls. There the sun was always blinding you and beating down mercilessly. The sky was always this bright blue color and that awful glare was a nightmare. Here the sunlight isn't quite so intense; the sky usually has some clouds to break up the monotony; and there is a mix of weather. I don't care for the humidity here in the summer, but I have only been here for one summer and everyone says that was unusually bad. We'll see.
I hate being hot--which for me happens when the temperature goes above 65. I prefer it in the lower-mid-40s or lower. I think my ideal day is one where the temperature is in the low 40s and there is fog and mist in the air. That doesn't happen in the summer. I cannot stand that crummy sweaty feeling that I know will be with me until sometime in the fall. There is that heavenly moment near the end of a summer day when I can take a shower and then sit in front of a fan and actually feel clean for 5 or 10 minutes. At least it's something.
The bottom line is that while fall and winter allow me to feel peaceful and cozy, everything about summer makes me agitated. I like it cool. I like the dark. I like being able to breathe. I like peace and quiet. Summer provides me with none of those things. People talk about the carefree days of summer and I wonder what the heck they are talking about. For me summer is an endless attempt to feel less yucky. It is too noisy, too bright, too hot, and too full of irritants of all kinds. I just hunker down, do what I can to minimize the pain, and wait for it to be over.
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