The Summer That Almost Wasn't

So I know I'm a bit spoiled. We've done a bunch of really cool stuff this summer (re: best day ever). The bikes have been ridden, the car has been road tripped, the beer hath been drankith. There's nothing really missing from our typical summer here, right?

Well there is one thing. Not that you can really tell from the pictures I post (because I cherry pick the good ones, obviously)… but one key component of summer has been dearly missed. The freaking sun. Especially the warm version of it.

The first in a montage of deceivingly summer-esque photos.

It is now late February, which means it is the southern hemisphere equivalent of late August. Which means summer is a) almost over apparently, and b) should be peaking or should have peaked in temperature.

We had a day in January that was 31 degrees (88 F). But it was so windy that it was miserable. Every other day was approximately 15-22 (59-72 F). Is this even the same country we were in last summer?

Don't let that shiny thing at the top of the picture fool you!

Sure, the slightly cooler weather is actually better for bike riding. And ok, last year's amazing weather was actually considered a long-term drought and became a national emergency. But it had nothing on the desert status of California this winter. It was lovely. And I miss it.

I've probably only worn shorts 5 times this summer. And I was probably cold 3 of those times. I haven't left the house without a jacket once, and I leave my puffy Arcteryx in the car because I hate being cold. My little dress collection is collecting dust, which I think is prompting Scott to look at one-way tickets back to California.

Castle Hill. I was soooo cold when I took this picture about 2 weeks ago. I was in shorts and it was horrible.

But you know what the worst part about all of this freezing nonexistent summer has been? I'm getting soft. I was on a road ride on Sunday and I was moaning to myself about how hot it was. I was getting sunburnt (for the first time since winter) and my single water bottle wasn't enough. I really, really wanted to be loving it, but it was awfully uncomfortable.

It was 22 degrees! A balmy 72 for those of you in the northern hemisphere. It was definitely humid, but come on… thats a crisp winter day in Hawaii!

Our view. Are you coming to visit yet?? Bring your parka!

Ok, I have another admission. Today it was 33 (92ish). I almost died. I skipped the gym, refused to ride, poured myself an ice cold glass of rose, and contemplated filling the tub with ice water.

Don't worry, it's meant to drop back to 20 tomorrow (of course), so I can resume my normal winging about how cold it is and how we're not having a summer. Or rather, how summer happened today. Started this morning, and ended this evening. If you blinked, you missed summer in New Zealand. I'm going to die when we visit Chico this July.

View from my road ride where I nearly died of heat mild weather exhaustion.

Which brings me to our holiday back home. It's coming up soon-ish. About 4 months! We've booked nearly the whole thing up with family time and road trips. We're excited to play "tourists" in California and Oregon, and tick off a few things we never got to do when we were there. Even if it's a mild summer though, it's going to be a shock to our systems! I seriously can't wait.

One last thing- look at this little hedgehog I saw in the yard last week! How cute is he!?