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Quote of the Day: Summer Daze
“I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.” — Lucy Maud Montgomery
Eventually, quite boring, I expect. But I do understand the sentiment. Even though we’re sweltering here in the mid-90s at the moment, with humidity almost as high, and I’ve assumed my English “summer privilege,” which has me sweating like a horse from the moment the temperature reaches the mid-60s until the first snow, and complaining about the scorching heat the entire time.
Still, I’ve been in Prince Edward Island in June, so I can quite see why someone would hold that up as the perfect month, from the chill that still strikes at night in the early days until the wild lupins start to flower toward the end.
It’s a lovely place. Where it’s always sunny (well, almost), I’m forever young and lissome, and it’s always June in my heart:
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Published in General
The Anne of Green Gables series was one of my absolute favorites growing up. I’ve never been to Prince Edward Island, but the pictures and description in your post align with what I imagine. Thank you for a beautiful start to my day!
Thanks. It’s gentle countryside, very flat (good for bike riding), and the red sandy soil gives a visual warmth to the landscape (which I should think they appreciate in the winters, which can be brutal. Best potatoes in the world. The dairy products aren’t so bad, either. And the fish is sublime.
I lived in Southern California for forty years, and I did it in two. Eternal June, with occasional forays into mid-August. Words cannot express how boring that was. We had a “thunderstorm” once. It lasted seven minutes.
There is a certain charm to being where it occasionally snows sideways.
I hope this doesn’t trigger someone living in the southern hemisphere. They might wish it’s always December. (It’s so easy to trigger people these days. Especially those who are standing on their heads, as they do in the southern hemisphere.)
Is this unusual weather for Pennsylvania this time of year? On Cape Cod, we have had a drought this spring and relatively high temperatures, which is unusual for us in June and late May. We suffer through an extra month of winter in April, which enables us to give people nice cool temperatures in July. :-) But this year, we have had a week of temperatures in the mid-eighties, which slowed down the gardening work but also accelerated the hydrangeas. They are now in full bloom and will be turning their characteristic blue by next week, a full two weeks ahead of schedule.
I’ve lived through a couple of drought periods on the Cape in the last thirty years. It’s an interesting phenomenon in the garden. Flowers last a lot longer than they do in rainy periods, so that’s fun. Our water table is still pretty high, so most plants are okay so far. If this keeps up, however, we’ll start to see some effects such as more borers in our trees. And weak root systems generally. If we get nasty hurricanes or nor’easters in August, a lot of those weak trees will go down. There’s also a lot of animal damage in the gardens that I don’t usually see. I suspect the rabbits and others are looking for water and getting it from water-holding leaves and flowers.
These weather patterns always seem to run on three-year cycles, and this is the third year of very dry springs for us. So perhaps rain will follow next year. And that will create a different group of problems in the garden. :-)
The reason I am asking about Pennsylvania is that in my experience, when we are in an unusual weather patterns, the interior of the country is also.
SW PA is odd in many respects (perhaps that’s why I like it so much even though, right about now, I’m losing my mind over the heat and humidity). It varies so much from year to year that I can’t really say what’s normal. I’m in what’s essentially the armpit of the state (the red dot south and west of Washington PA is the approximate location):
I’m surrounded by hills and river valleys. There are a couple of weird little microclimates that exist as I drive to and from Pittsburgh, most notably in the winter, as I drive by Canonsburg (home of Perry Como and Bobby Vinton, yay!). Right there, no matter what’s happening elsewhere, there’s very often a blinding blizzard, for just a couple of minutes, as I travel on I-79.
I’m three or four weeks behind my friends in Pittsburgh (only about 40 miles away) when it comes to the garden and what’s in bloom. And it’s very difficult to predict the weather. Sometimes, I’m in lock-step with Pittsburgh. Sometimes, my weather comports much more with what’s further South, and events I’ve planned, either here or there, with Pittsburghers, have to wait.
Perhaps it’s because the two nearest little towns (Claysville and West Alexander) played such a varied role in American history. Claysville (about 10 minutes away) was known as “Little Richmond” for its support of the South. West Alec (as it’s known around here) was firmly for the Republic, and was a stop on the Underground Railroad. They’re only about five minutes apart on Route 40, the “National Road.” And some of the differences play out to this day.
Whatever. I just remember that it’s all Whiskey Rebellion territory, and keep drinking….
That’s probably true.
I think our cycles are decades in the making. Perhaps 30 years or so.
Agree.
Wow. What a story. :-)
My granny was fond of saying that “Horses sweat. Men perspire. Women merely glow.”
Yeah. No.
Bless her heart; she’d never been in my neck of the woods about now.
I am also an “Anne” fan, although I connect more with her famous quote about Octobers – it’s too hot in June where I live. 😅 Both seasons are beautiful, though!