Despite a warm start, this summer may prove to be cooler and wetter than many. I’ve heard some local teenagers, particularly those who have spent time in California, complain bitterly, but I’m kind of okay with it. I’ve always been a long pants kind of person, even more so as I age. This summer, I’ve got a couple of new pullover sweatshirts, and I welcome weather that allows me to snuggle into them of a morning. I generally put away my beloved wool sweaters in summer, so these sweatshirts, easily thrown over a T-shirt as needed, fill their niche well when needed.
Lately, we’ve had a lot of fog and rain. That’s fit the cozy mood in the cabin as the family gathers together once again (see The Rule of Three). Adding to that, Aly brought me a gift of peat turf incense from Ireland. The cabin’s redolence would be familiar to many of our ancestors were they to visit—which on many of these days would make perfect sense, atmospherically.
On gray days, salmon and other lidless-eyed food fish swim closer to the surface, fleeing into darker depths when the sun shines. When the silty Katzehin outflow reaches our beach, it provides cover on sunny days, but when that doesn’t happen, fishing gets harder if the sun shines brightly.
On the other hand, progress on the coming winter’s wood supply requires more hot, sunny days to dry the wood properly. The garden could use a lot more sun than it’s gotten lately. We need warm sunshine to ripen our cherries, tomatoes, and squashes. I’ll enjoy the gray days when they come, but also try to make the most of the sunny ones as well.