Summer in September

I really do believe that shifting my summer chronology has drastically improved my summer attitude. A few years ago, I decided that after years of rainy Memorial Days and crap-tastic weather in the beginning of June, that I was going to remove June entirely from any summer expectations, and give September a shot at being a summer month instead of June.

I know that the summer solstice is June 21 or thereabouts. But, my expectation of summer, for many years, was that the summer weather would fall in June/July/August.

Well, I've know completely bailed on you June--you are, in my mind now, month of June, late Spring. And that opens it up for you, lovely lovely September, a great opportunity to show your sunny way into my heart.

And this weekend was a summer weekend, indeed. In my ongoing quest to embrace Chicago, I took a paddle ride up the Chicago river, starting at Melrose almost all the way to Foster. And a group of friends went, too. Thank you all so much for coming, by the way--so fun. Anywho, we paddled past many duck families, a large flock of geese, a blue heron and a dead animal that was identified by others as either a racoon, a beaver or a rabbit--but was dead and floating in our river path. I was in a single kayak, and I simply refused to look at it so as not to besmirch the trance the Chicago River had cast on me.

Going under the Wilson bridge, I had stumbled into a Chicago movie scene location that if I had seen in the movie theatre I would have wished I could be in, but there I was, in it and watching two el trains fly by on the bridge above.

Stinky onion? Not Friday night.

Highly recommended---5 out of 5 paddles. And moving on forward, I decree September to be my new summer.

Quick hello to my brother Paul, (who I don't think has read this lately) but anyway, thanks for taking me kayaking all those times!
And tell Olivia to call me.