I think it is a northern thing: the busy summer.
It all relates to whether or not you live in a climate where you have nice warm days. I only have my life in Victoria to compare it to but I remember that on mild days, we would sit on our deck with some drinks and maybe some friends would come over and we would laugh and have an impromptu party.
It was relaxing.
Not here.
I have never examined pending weather reports as frequently as I do in the summer months while living in Prince George.
Everyone cares about the weather.
The weather is an elephant waiting to step on your tender little outdoor gathering.
The weather is determined to have all the nice days mid-week when you are working and rain, hail or snow on the weekends.
The weather makes you nervous if it's too nice out because forest fires might erupt around us and the whole province might have to evacuate.
So, as a result of all this, the summers are a pending surprise of "what are we going to do? It's nice out. We can't do nothing. Let's go the lake. Let's go on holiday. Let's garden. Let's set up the sprinkler. Oops, it's raining, never mind."
Perhaps it is not climate related, this stressy summer but instead related to whether or not you have children. I didn't have kids in Victoria but I do in Prince George so maybe that's the golden ticket.
I want my kids to have the best summer.
I want them to have summers like I remember, going camping and swimming and having fun the entire time.
Except I probably didn't have fun the entire summer.
Some days were probably boring, some days were bad and some days, I likely did not do much of anything at all. I think my memories have all been made fuzzy through a nostalgic filter and I should probably stop worrying about it.
Even workplaces get into it - the idea that you can get a lot of projects done in the summer when it's quiet. Except that everyone is on holidays and it is never quiet and the summer is never a very good time to get extra things done, only barely catch up on your regular work.
But maybe it's just me.
Regardless, summers are fun and busy and remarkably ordinary in the best way.
Everything sparkles and I feel sometimes, looking out from the bowl in Prince George, that the city is getting a big, green hug from the trees; a friendly, little squeeze from a friend telling you to relax and enjoy the summer because it will be gone before we know it.
