Summer is not here

A few weeks ago I was going to write a post called "Signs of Summer." The most notable sign I had come up with was the lack of my socks in the laundry -- evidence that I had switched from shoes to sandals. I was sure I'd think of more signs as I wrote the post.

But here it is June 1st, and summer has not arrived. It's the oddest thing. Day after day we have highs in the seventies. MAYBE low eighties. I realize that those temps could be considered summer in other areas, but NOT in Ridgecrest. In Ridgecrest, summer is when it goes over 100. At this rate I'm wondering if it ever will.

Here are the predicted high temps for the next seven days: Thursday 78, Friday 84, Saturday 82, Sunday 79, Monday 80, Tuesday 83, Wednesday 84. Yes, it looks like a warming trend, and maybe ten days from now we'll hit 90, but the way things have been going, we could just as easily drop back into the 70s.

There's a chance of RAIN this weekend. A small chance, but still a chance. Weird. And the wind keeps blowing and blowing, day after day.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining about the weather, and really I'm not. These are wonderful, livable temperatures. I still feel human -- we all do. The summer doldrums are far off in the future.

But everyone here is a bit discombobulated by the weather. It's not quite like a drought -- where you wait and wait for the rain or the snow, and it doesn't come, and then you worry about the lack of water and rationing and all that. I'm not worried about anything bad happening if it doesn't get hot. The Ridgecrest summer heat isn't actually GOOD for anything that I know of, other than drying clothes on the clothesline. Quite the opposite.

But we're USED to it! We're USED to all the misery that the summer heat brings. I'm all ready to be miserable, but the heat isn't here, so I'm not.

I go on drying clothes in the dryer, wearing shirts with sleeves, and wondering what aspect of climate change is causing this very peculiar weather.