Tuesday, 7/16

I have never, ever been accused of being a pessimist. I always look at the good side of things, and I’m always marveling at the potential of what’s to come. Yet I was struck with a thought this morning—

If you consider summer to be the months of June, July, and August, then today marks the halfway point of the season.

SUMMER’S HALF OVER!!!!

So, for the moment, at least, feel free to call me “Mr. Pessimist”.

The sad thing about that observation is that it really doesn’t SEEM like summer’s been with us long enough to be half over. Most of June was so cold and so wet, and so many of us spent the month complaining about it, that it really doesn’t seem like we’ve used up half of our allotment of summer. It just seems like May lasted so long that, well, summer just started. Not that it’s halfway over.

That's just not right.

But numbers don't lie. There are three months (June, July, and August) to “summer”. Today is the mid-point of the mid month. It's like we're at that moment when you're on a teeter-totter and it's perfectly balanced between you and the person on the other side. That's where we are today. Tomorrow, you start heading toward the ground, or up in the air, depending upon your point of view.

And if that's a mangled metaphor, I don't know what is.

But since I don’t seem to have the capability to be a pessimist for long, let me share a neat local weather forecast that I picked up a couple of years ago. According to records from this century—the past 18 years--Marquette has gotten an average of four 90+ degree days a year. That means that, since we’ve only had one so far, the second half of summer promises at least three more (quite possibly, even, later this week).

So while summer may really BE half over, it seems like the best of it may yet be coming. And if that’s not cause for a return to optimism, I don’t know WHAT is!

Enjoy your “mid-point of summer” day, and get ready to enjoy the rest of the season.

(jim@wmqt.com)