Usually, at some point in July or August, all the news in our area turns to the weather:  Record-breaking heat!  Summer scorcher!  Another day of high temps!  And I roll my eyes, every year, and think of course it’s hot; it’s the end of July, for crying out loud!  How is this news!?

This year it’s different….this year it started in June.  It was 99 degrees on June 24th, and it hasn’t particularly let up at all.  (106 degrees on June 28th!)  Honestly, once you cross about 93, it’s all the same to me.  The poor azaleas I planted in our front bed this spring are barely hanging on; it’s just too hot and dry for anything to be happy.  In spite of all the giant shade trees we have in our yard (so different from our last house, perched on a hill, surrounded by baby trees and baking in the sun), it’s still hot; at some point everyday the a/c kicks on and just doesn’t kick off.  We’ve had all the upstairs blinds closed, and the insulated curtains pulled, to keep in the cool; I’ve been very stingy with the blinds and curtains downstairs, too.  It’s making me crazy; I feel like we’re living in a cave.  So I decided it was time for a break.

Every summer (admittedly, usually a little later in the summer) I get on the library’s website and put holds on nothing but snow and winter books for the kids.  There comes a point, in the middle of the 100 degree days, where you just want to remember that it isn’t always going to be like this.  The kids are at great ages:  I can check out good picture books and they’ll still enjoy them; in another couple of years my son is going to think this is a ridiculous idea.  Right now, though, we can all snuggle in together on the sofa in the afternoon, with the blinds closed, in the cool dark, and read books about snow…snow days….winter winds.  And look at beautiful, soothing, snowy illustrations.  And know that it’s not going to be 100 degrees forever….and I know that I won’t be snuggling and reading with my little ones forever, either; so I plan on enjoying it while I can.  Even in spite of the summer heat.