This rainy summer has certainly been one for the memory books.
I didn’t mind the rain and the temperate days where I could go for walks around the block without dying of heat or thirst from a scorching sun.
It was refreshing to sleep with the bedroom window open and feel a cool breeze blow in, instead of the exhaust from a fan that sounds more like a motorboat engine in the bedroom.
My bank account didn’t experience air conditioner shock because it was only on for two days in the past three months. Even when I turned it on, it was only to acknowledge that summer had indeed arrived on the two days the temperature reached 30 C.
The grass was really green all summer and the perennials larger than normal, although the annuals in my pots took a beating with all the rain. In late August, the colder temperatures nearly finished them off.
It was actually comfortable barbecuing dinner on a nightly basis ─ even under an umbrella ─ because it wasn’t too hot to eat outside (when it wasn’t raining, of course), and it wasn’t too hot to eat inside.
My canine friend enjoyed her daily walks in the daylight. During hot summers, we had to wait until the sun went down to save her from heat exhaustion. She’s never looked so swivel or healthy.
And the blueberries! I would suffer through a rainy summer anytime to benefit from the plumpest, darkest, sweetest blueberries I’ve seen in years.
One of my neighbours, who is shamefully in better shape than I am, and who is at least a decade older, said she picked 65 three-litre containers of the big blueberries this summer.
I am in awe of her patience, her stamina and her ability to ignore black bears in the bush. She’s become one of my heroes.
I, in turn, feel like I’ve eaten half of those blueberries myself: blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, blueberries with coconut cream, blueberries on my yogurt. And of course, bags of frozen fresh blueberries to snack on throughout the winter.
But the most memorable experience of this past wet summer was the time I spent planning my winter vacation six months in advance. At some primal level, I know I will be needing the healing benefits of the sun before next summer’s awakening.
My search led me to the Wild Women Expeditions website. I think I could easily participate in some of the experiences they offer such as the Greek Goddess Sailing Adventure or the Goddess, Queens and Heroines Tours in Egypt. But I settled on an adventure tour in Spain that I’ll write about at a later date.
When I reviewed the Facebook page for this tour group, I was encouraged and motived by the travel photos and stories from various participants from adventures all over the world.
On one painfully rainy Saturday this summer, I spent the day exploring every single tour they offered and vowed to participate in at least six before I die.
Wild Women indeed. I can’t wait!
