My Favorite Weather

My favorite time of year is summer and one of the great things about living in Portland is the summer. Granted, the season here doesn't officially start until July 4th. Think I'm kidding? Nope. When it kicks in it's awesome -- dare I say idyllic. It's typically 80 to 90 degrees with minimal humidity. There are some days when the temperature can hit 100 degrees if not a little higher, but at least it's a dry heat. Last summer we had about three months of sunny days for three months straight. All of this is a welcome change after spending summers in New York.

To be fair there was something magical about summers in New York on the weekends. For those who don't flea the city for the Hamptons or Fire Island, the city becomes a private playground. It's much easier to get into great restaurants, the streets are fairly empty (still there are more people on the streets than those walking around downtown Portland on a busy day), and if you're lucky enough to know someone who has access to a pool each weekend can become like a mini-vacation.

It's the other five days of the week that were brutal: The oppressive heat trapped in between all the buildings, the steam coming up from the subway tunnels through the sidewalk vents, and the humidity. Not a fan of humidity. There were days when you couldn't wait for the rain. Not just rain. A torrential downpour that felt more like a tropical storm. When these struck people would huddle under building awnings waiting for the rain to pass (usually only about 10 minutes). The best part was always that first breath of air when the rain stopped - just a moment of no humidity.

Portland summers are pretty much the opposite and I love that. I don't even mind when it rains for a few days in a row. What I don't love is the schizophrenic weather which usually occurs in the Spring months and often in June. This year we've gotten plenty of beautiful days in both May and June so I feel a bit bad mentioning my weather angst, but not that bad. What is schizophrenic weather you may wonder? Well it's a mixture of sun, rain, hail, gray sky, and sun again all in the span of a minute or two.  

Honestly, how do you dress for that kind of weather? I have a jacket on, wait I don't need a jacket. It's a head scratcher. Now if that happened maybe once or twice a day that would be one thing. That's simply not the case. The weather can carry on like that all day long. The upside is we sure do get a lot of rainbows in Portland.

Even better news? Summer is coming and I can't wait. Now, if I could only find someone with a pool.