It's just a wee bit rainy these days

Here is the screen cap of the local weather report showing how much rain we've gotten. This is not how much rain we've gotten this month. This is how much rain we've gotten in the past 48 hours.

Let it snow!

So far we haven't gotten the crazy snow storms that the rest of the eastern seaboard has been getting and I'm starting to feel a little left out. We haven't had a good snowstorm since December and I actually like snowstorms.

Fun in the snow

Maybe Jake would stop getting snow in his gloves if he stopped taking them off!

What an unbelievably gorgeous fall day

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

October 16, 2009 ~ Upton, MA.

Note the fact that the leaves haven't even finished changing colors yet much less fallen off the trees. Also note the big tall trees I was talking about in yesterday's post.

Four Seasons

I enjoy having a full four, distinct seasons in regards to weather. Over the years I have lived in the Mid-West, the Pacific Northwest, the South, and now New England (obviously we're too good to put a direction in our descriptor). I can say with fairly strong certainty that New England has everywhere else beat - Massachusetts in particular - and here is a season-by-season breakdown of why that is true.

Autumn: There is nothing like autumn in New England. Ten years after moving here I still have my breath taken away every October. It is so unbelievable gorgeous. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. I still find it hard to believe that this is a yearly occurrence and not just a fluke of nature that happens every few decades.

Winter: Winter in Massachusetts is just about perfect. There is a good amount of snow and you're guaranteed to get some every winter so you've got sledding and skiing every year. There aren't so many snow storms that you never get out of the house but enough that you get a few snow days off from work and school every now and then and a day or two that you get to curl up in your house and watch the fluffy stuff come down and turn everything into a winter wonderland. Yes we get the occasional blizzard and a strong Nor'easter is nothing to joke about but they're not terrible. To get snow you have to have a few snowstorms. That's a given. Unlike living in the Mid-West though, you don't really have the icy cold winds blowing across the plains and weather reports that start in the negative numbers before wind chill is factored into the equation. Celebrating that it is finally warm enough to start snowing again signifies a general winter weather pattern that I can live without and Minnesota and the Dakotas are welcome to it.

Spring: I would happily take Spring off the table no matter where I live. I hate Spring. It's rainy, it's muddy, and it's miserable. If you go out in the morning without a jacket it is guaranteed to be freezing. If you wear a sweater you can bet on the fact that the thermometer will hit 70 degrees that day. It's also the time of year that we start sleeping with our windows open again and the birds come out and NEVER SHUT UP and wake us up at 4:30 a.m. I hate Spring.

Summer: It's hot. It's humid. It's perfect. With the exception of this year when it rained almost every day in June, summer here is pretty awesome. It's hot enough to get into the 90's which I like, and just humid enough to feel summery, without the oppressive humidity of the South. I don't want it to be 95 degrees at two o'clock in the morning but I love it to be 95 degrees at two o'clock in the afternoon. I would be willing to trade the humidity and 95 degree weather for the dry heat and 110 degree weather of the Southwest but then I'd have to give up the other seasons so hot and humid (but not too hot or too humid) is just about perfect for me.

Not complaining

I am absolutely not complaining about the hot weather we're having because FINALLY summer is here and it's delightful. I do wish, however, that it didn't coincide with the week that our air conditioner gave out.

Mom and Dad are bringing more than just Hannah with them

According to the weatherman we're headed into "our first big warm-up of the summer*" this week. This weekend is going to be 89 and 90 degrees with lots of sun. I'm going to do nothing but lounge in the pool and snuggle with Hannah.

*Sadly, this statement was made in the MIDDLE OF AUGUST!!!

Dear Seattle- Please give us back our summer. Love, Boston

My sister just sent me the 5-day forecast for Seattle. What the hell? That's the type of forecast you usually see here in Boston and we haven't even hit 90 degrees yet this year!!! In a city where less than 5% of people probably have central a/c in their houses this doesn't bode well. I wonder how Hannah will handle it. She's had central a/c ever since she was born.

The entire weather spectrum

So far, in the four hours since we left Upton, we've driven through sun, fog, sun, clouds, sun, and dark clouds. We haven't had any rain yet but I'm sure it will only be a matter of time. We're planning to picnic at a rest area for lunch so that we can let the kids ride their bikes for awhile so hopefully the rain will hold off until after lunch.

Isn't that why they're called rain forests?

Hannah: Why is it raining every day this summer?

Me: Because Mother Nature hates New England.

Lincoln: Its gotta rain somewhere.

Me: Yeah.....in the rain forests.

Hannah: Or China!!

My calendar is mocking me

Each year I make myself a calendar for my office with pictures of the kids. June was a picture of Jake playing at the beach on Martha's Vineyard. This month is a picture of Hannah playing in the pool. It's like my calendar is just sitting there mocking me and saying "Ha! You wish you could frolic in the sun. Nice try!"

Could it really be?

I'm afraid to believe. I've been burned so many times before in the past few weeks. And I don't mean sunburned.

Seriously?

Will this ever end? Lincoln said I'm becoming obsessed with the forecast but this is just insane. Even the weather forecasters are getting sick of delivering the bad news.

A backyard picture is worth a thousands words

The death of the sun

Hannah: Will it be sunny today?

Me: No. We are doomed to cloudiness and dreariness and gloom forever. The sun is never coming out ever again. It died with Michael Jackson.

And it continues

Statistics to back up my crankiness

If you're wondering how I can bitch so much about the weather here are a few statistics for you.

1. Cloudiest June since 1903
2. Only 3 days in June with 80% (or more) sunshine
3. No days with 100% sunshine

The only good news is that out in suburbia we've had a few more days of sunshine than those 3 days. Maybe 5 or 6 out of the last 25 days. And luckily those have been mostly on weekends so we have managed to get in the pool but man is it still depressing. Looking at the 15 day forecast it doesn't look like it's going to get much better any time soon with only a few days here and there with any substantial amounts of sun. I really hope that changes.

Begging for crumbs

It's really sad when this forecast is exciting because they are actually using yellow on the graphic for something other than the numbers.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send us sun sometime soon.

Mother Nature is such a tease

There are rumors that the sun is going to come out either today or tomorrow. This morning when I was driving to work I noticed that some of the clouds were distinctly lighter, as though there was truth to the rumor that a sun lurked behind them, but then I would drive right through a rain shower. Then a little further down the road I saw something that I only vaguely remember existing....the smallest slice of bright blue sky. Could it be? Does such a thing really exist? I guess we'll have to wait to find out since it's still cloudy and gray outside of my window right now.

I actually fear for when the sun does come back out. It's like when it rains and all of a sudden everyone forgets how to drive. Or when the winter comes and people who have lived in the northern part of the country their entire lives freak out and say "what the hell is this white stuff?" I suspect the same thing will happen once the sun actually returns. People will be crawling along on their commute trying to shield their eyes from the bright yellow light while peeking through them at the same time trying to witness this unknown phenomenon the scientists call "sun".