Comments on: Summer, and the Living Ain’t Easy

By: HonorGrace

HonorGrace — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 06:20:28 +0000

I’m so thrilled to find folks who understand the sheer pressure & guilt of sunshine/blue skies ect. I live in Seattle which despite creeping climate change is still a haven for the “outdoor impaired”– I love to garden, tho’– just inside a courtyard or a walled & well-hidden yard. The climate here is usually delightfully conducive to staying indoors & my natural red-headedness also gives me a great excuse to stay out of the sunshine & socializing. & I envy James your ability to stroll about the city. This area has really lovely parks and nooks, galleries, libraries & gorgeous views but I’m one who just can’t walk or bike in the daytime as it’s just too “public”- too exposed. I stroll in the evening or very early am & gave my bike to my son in law ages ago..I find summer just fine to watch from my window or from the edges of nighttime/dawn, knowing that soon it will be raining/snowing and all my neighbors will stop waving to me and snuggle up with a good book just as I have been doing all along…

By: James

James — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:12:38 +0000

One of the reasons I like living in a walkable city like Wellington, NZ is that when I feel the need to get away I can just walk around for a few hours, in fact a walk from where I live into town is around two hours long. And being so close to the see and in the roaring forties the weather is almost always warm enough for a walk.

And thankfully I never had to worry about Christmas down under to much as my family has alsways lived a fair distance from all our relatives. pheww.

By: spectatrix

spectatrix — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:38:50 +0000

Patti:

I’m with you on this; I especially like the cold days (or as you so colorfully put it, “snot-freezingly cold days”) because the weather adds to the isolation/cocooning effect and few people will argue that it’s better to be outside at that temperature!

David:

The kind of Christmas you describe would definitely put me on edge, as I find the holiday frenzy difficult enough to deal with when the days are short and chilly

By: David

David — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:51:07 +0000

I agree with Patti, and add that in the Southern Hemisphere, when summer coincides with Christmas we get a double dose of merriment expectation. Just try and find a quiet place to gather your thoughts when everyone is running about from before dawn, high on chocolate and fizzy red drinks...

At least I get some days in our winter when I can quietly reflect without everyone needing to drag me out.

Also, recently and quite independently, I realised that a guilt-free day indoors is a true gem.

By: Patti

Patti — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:17:30 +0000

I will take your point to a different level and say that, as well as disliking summer because of the enforced socializing it often entails, I prefer any day, in any season, that allows me to stay indoors on my own without feeling guilty about it. Give me the snowstorms and the thunder-boomers and the tornado warnings and days that are just too hot and sticky to venture outside. Give me snot-freezingly cold days and high winds and blistering UV indexes. Give me days when people won’t look at me like I’m crazy to prefer indoor solitude, and spare me the words “what are you doing inside on a beautiful day like today??”