Summer has always been my favourite time of the year. When I was a child, I associated it with a two-month holiday from school. Now, I see it as a break from the snow and cold (even when it is replaced with wind and rain at this time of year). I enjoy summer festivals, longer days, the warm sunshine, and pretty much the typical things that people say they enjoy at this time of year.

But summer is just a season, and like all seasons, it is temporary. And, like any other time of the year, it holds memories for me, both good and bad. It is also the time when I come face to face with one of my pet peeves: people who complain about the weather. Especially when they are the same people who complain about the aforementioned cold and snow of the winter. People for whom the temperature goes from being too cold to too hot. I wish these people would just make up their minds as to which extreme they dislike the most. My response to people who whine about it being too hot when it is +30 is usually, “Don’t worry – it will be -30 again soon enough.”

Sure enough, when the days get dark before 5 p.m. and it’s cold enough outside for us to grow icicles from our noses, those same people complain. I often wonder if they spend as much time complaining about something over which they actually have control. Alas, the weather is not one of these things.

Personally, I don’t like temperature extremes either, but that’s life in Edmonton. When it gets too hot, I’ll put on my shorts, have a cold drink, and smile – even if I’m burning.