Barbie World + love

A Conditioned Response.

Each yeah, as July ambles along, I catch myself doing it now and then.

August only makes it worse, more frequent.

By the time September arrives, hot and sunny and summery still, it has reached epic proportions.

I'm daydreaming about the fall, yinz. Right in the thick of summer.

I can't help it!

I really, truly am loving this summer so far -- the pool trips and the farmers market peaches and the impending trip to the beach. I'm soaking up the sun, and in the cold, drippy months of late winter circa 2013, I will be cursing my overheated, whiny past-self. But lately, like the earth around these parts, I've been feeling a little scorched, a tad dusty, a bit parched.

The gentle warmth of spring is just a blush compared to the saturated, intense heat of summer -- especially this particular summer. It starts to wear on a person, this sort of heat wave. Especially a sweaters-and-cider-loving person.

I sit next to the windows at work, 57 stories up in the air, which is lovely -- the views are amazing. But unfortunately, that means I sit next to the air conditioning vents at work, too. And let me tell you... while the AC provides sweet, welcome relief for the first five minutes after trudging around a hot, muggy city... when they are whirring all day long, right behind me, things become a little frigid. The backs of my arms are like icicles by mid-afternoon.

I want to bring a sweater into work, or a blanket even (and I wouldn't be the only one, trust me)... and thinking about it just makes me so, so excited for those first signs of autumn. The smell of a fire in the air, the gust of wind with a wee bit of a chill, the brisk dog-walking around the park that we can all enjoy rather than suffer through (Bailey and Teddy have zero interest right now in "exercise"). The return of riding boots and sweaters and football. (Kyle, we could love fall so much more together if you'd just reconsider our city's fine NFL franchise...)

I'm really getting quite carried away over here.

I'm not wishing summer away yet. To everything there is a season, and all that jazz. But I want the full mix of summer, the thunderstorms and the balmy mornings and the blistering heat too. Things just feel flat right now -- the sky is white, the rivers are gray, the plants are dying (and it's not just my plants this time!).

I think we desperately need a rush of rain over the next few days, and according to the forecast, it looks like Mother Nature agrees.

And so the weekend plan involves a couch, a good movie (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy!), a few books, and these guys.

Windows open, fans whirring, rain falling -- I've never needed a lazy weekend more. The kind that only summer can provide, I suppose. With fresh air, warm evenings, and lightening bugs glowing in the overgrown backyard.