I Miss Summertime

The title of this post may seem strange to those of you who know that I currently spend most of my time in San Diego, California.  I know what you're thinking, how can I miss summertime?  It's summertime all the time there!  Well, that is true... and that is the point.

This morning I walked outside to yet another glorious day.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature was on the rise.  I am extremely fortunate, because ninety percent of my days here in San Diego are exactly like that.  "Perfect".  While that may sound like I am bragging, I am actually writing this to inform you of just how opposite of "perfect" it actually is.  That's right, I miss weather, andI miss the cold.

As a Kentucky native I got to enjoy all the seasons, and the good and bad that came with each change.  And all of the people that are from San Diego, or those that have lived here a while and aren't quite as introspective as me (or crazy), don't realize what they are missing.  In my opinion, the biggest reason that is, is because just like in all other facets of life, you don't realize just how much the bad, or the different, makes the good, as great as it is.

I realize on the surface this concept sounds dumb, but just take a walk with me here.  Lets let my favorite obsession on the planet work as an example... pizza.  Pizza is amazing, right?  Of course it is, we ALL love pizza.  But, how do we know we love that sweet but spicy red sauced, gooey cheese smothered, buttery crusted delicious pizza?  How did we ALL come to understand how glorious it is???

Because we've had broccoli.

Just imagine if from the time you were a child, the only meal you ever had your entire life was pizza.  Sounds amazing right?  Sure it does.  But, you wouldn't know it was amazing until I walked up to you and handed you a disgustingly bland plate of nasty tasting broccoli and told you that for three months, it was the ONLY thing you can eat.  It is then, and ONLY THEN that you would truly learn, and could fully appreciate just how awe-inspiring all of those blissful flavors of your every day pizza meals actually were.  No pizza there-after would EVER taste the same; they would forever take on an entirely new and wondrous meaning to you.

Now lets apply.  Just like pizza, every single one of us that isn't hungover, depressed or heartbroken, we all LOVE sunny days.  Right?  Sunny days are AMAZING!  But, when you don't know what bad weather is, and I mean lived through it, you have no idea just how supreme a beautiful sunny day can be.  A perfect example of what I am telling you is when my friend Bryan and I went on a little deep sea fishing excursion here in sunny SoCal last summer.  It was a GORGEOUS sunny day, even a little warm by San Diego standards, a blistering (haha) 79 degrees.  Bryan and I were just loving it.  Well, when we boarded our fishing vessel, we overheard the Captain and his crew bitching incessantly about how miserably hot it was, and how they just couldn't believe the inhumanity of the 40% humidity.  Now, for those who didn't grow up in the south, or on the east coast in general, a solid summer day hits at around 90+ with a humidity as high as 100%.  Hot and wet to the point that when you walk outside it can feel like you are wearing a hot water blanket (if there were such a thing).  So, you can imagine the kick Bryan and I got out of hearing these pansies bitching about such a glorious day.  I think Bryan's exact words to me were, "Dude, if they only knew."

Listen, I am a romantic so I could very well be different than most.  Because, as much as I love sunny days, I love the change in seasons, I love the change in wardrobes, I even love the feeling of getting out in the cold and then running inside and warming up by the fire.  Most of all though, and to Bryan's point, I love that I truly know just how amazing a warm sunny day is.  The reason I know that, is because I know what it is like not to have them... for long stretches of time.  And no matter how great a 72 degree sunny day here feels, I promise you it doesn't feel even 1 percent as good as it does when you are coming off of a cold winter... and when you know that those warm sunny days are only going to be around for another few months.

To circle the wagons, I miss Summertime.  More accurately, I miss looking forward to Summertime.  Because THAT is what makes warm summer days so special.  This year, I couldn't have cared less when the calendar moved from February to March, then March to April... and so on.  What reason was there to care?  Nothing changed.  And I get it, boo freakin hoo, right?  First world problems for sure.  I'm just saying, the grass isn't always greener.  Those of you who HATE winter, snow, and rain, try taking a different outlook.  Realize how much those few short months of maybe not ideal weather, contributes to just how much you LOVE summer.  Because whether you realize it or not, it really does.  To prove this point, I'll quote the lyrics of the incomparable 50 Cent when he artfully poeticized my feelings on his debut album years ago...

"Sunny days wouldn't be special if it wasn't for rain, and joy wouldn't feel so good if it wasn't for pain."  Now, you know if Fitty said it, it must be true.  I rest my case.

Love what you have and love where you live, no matter what corner of the world you may call home.  There is good and bad in every facet of life, but it's ultimately up to you whether you enjoy it or not.  And for this blow-hard, opinionated writer, it aint about WHERE you are that matters anyway, it's about WHO you're sharing it with.

-B