“Summertime and the living is easy”.
These words from Porgy and Bess have often been running through my mind lately. I have taken pity on mankind and refrained from bursting into song when others were nearby.
As a child growing up about 30 miles northeast of McMinnville, summertime living was easy. The rain stopped around the Fourth of July. School was out and our days were filled with playing outdoors, running through sprinklers, blowing bubbles and picnics. In my memories the sun was always shining, and the temperature was just right. Mt. Hood was always covered with snow as was Mt. St. Helens. (My childhood was long before any volcanic activity and Mt. St. Helens was visible and looked like a giant ice cream cone.) Forest fires were rare and far away.
And the winters in my memories did not have ice storms. Sometimes it would snow but mostly the sky was overcast and gloomy. The gloomy winters drove me away.
I have lived in and outside of San Francisco; in Vienna, Austria, and for decades outside of Washington D. C. When I retired, I returned to Oregon. I came for the mild weather.
Many things have changed in 60 years. It doesn’t rain as much. Mt. Hood becomes a giant rock. McMinnville used to raise turkeys and walnuts. Now it is “Wine Country “ surrounded with groves of hazelnuts. (They were filberts back in my youth). And the summers are definitely warmer.
We are currently struggling to maintain our outdoor plants. Those that survived the ice storm of January are now threatened by the high temperatures of July. Hopefully we will not lose old friends that we have nurtured for so long. The sliver of a silver lining is the enormous variety of cultivars now available if any plants need to be replaced.
The weather is still milder. The last two Tour and Faires have enjoyed almost perfect weather. We do have our occasional extremes. But they are rarer here than in so many other places.
So, it is summertime! Let’s run through the sprinkler and blow some bubbles! Soon we need to return to Garden Club duties. Make the most of the easy living.
