Summertime's Coming

What two things are odd about this picture?

I think I'll appreciate summer with greater awareness this year because of the "winter of the century" that we just endured here in Michigan, as in most of the U.S.  I took several photos of our house with snow piled higher than I can ever remember; and it never seemed to melt, just kept getting higher and higher.  Finally, the winter did recede and the grass is green.  We cleaned the deck and set up the outdoor furniture.  With two more weeks of school, my bus driving career will soon be put on hold until fall.  I aim to savor the summer like never before.

It's Saturday morning, the last day of May, and I am on the deck with my cup of coffee.  This is one summer ritual I enjoy: breakfast on the deck with birds singing and the sun rising around me.  The deck is on the west side of the house, so I'm in the shade with the morning light streaming past on either side of the house.  I also have a favorite seat on the front porch that I use later in the day when the sun is high or in the west.

This summer we do have some chores to be done: rooms to be painted; a new furnace to be installed; perhaps carpet to be laid.  Not that I will do all these things myself - maybe the painting.  We may arrange a trip out west in August as we've done in the past.  Of course, summer is a time for motorcycling, too: riding to work, riding around town, day trips, weekend excursions, extended adventures - that's what summer is made for.  Last year I had a great trip to Florida, and I think I'll plan another this year which I'll write about in a separate post.

Speaking of this past "Winter of the Century," I just read a book about climate change titled "Climate Weirdness."  The book was meant to be a description of what scientists know about global warming as of 2012, written in simple enough terms for a sixth grader like me to understand.  Politics aside, the bottom line is that the earth is warming due to increased levels of heat-trapping CO2 in the atmosphere - and yes, it's largely caused by human activity.  Because climate entails much more than our daily weather, the results of a changing climate are varied: more violent storms and heat waves, droughts, floods, changing wind and ocean current patterns, rising sea levels, and much more.  This process seems to be an unstoppable freight train headed straight at our children and grandchildren.  Don't be fooled into thinking our recent winter disproves global warming; rather it is one of the "weird" results of it.  

Ah, but back to my main topic of interest - the summer.  Today is a beautiful day that we thought might never come this year.  Tomorrow is the first day of June, the final Sunday with our retiring pastor, to be celebrated with a church cookout and ice cream social.  Our new pastor and his family just arrived from Denver - a new era for our small family church in Rochester Hills.  God bless Faith Church, God bless my family, and God bless America as we enjoy this summer of 2014.  Thanks for reading.