Late summer sun gets a (skier’s) thumbs up!
I’ve been telling my husband that the PNW is known for its “Indian Summers”. Sure, June can come in like a bag of cats. And go out like a bag of cats that’s been closed for 30 days, but woo boy. Just you wait until September. Late summer, skipping the hump over the equinox into shorter days, sunsets like neopolitan ice cream, these all wait for us. If only we are patient.
This is my story, and I’m sticking with it. Up until this year, however, my husband thought I was crazy. Up until the 2012 end-of-summer-beginning-of-autumn, I didn’t have much of an argument. But he’s admitted it now. I was right. Sometimes September can rock. Every once in a while, the air stays warm, a high pressure sets up, and we feel vindicated for foggy June.
Best of all, this post-summer warmth staves off the early winter blues. It makes the wait for winter easier. Because there is nothing worse than rain in Seattle when we know it is not snowing in the mountains. The mountains, and their plentiful snowfall, is what make winters here tolerable. I’m not sure how regular people (the one’s that don’t ski or ride and don’t think a surprise snowfall in the city is awesome, because they actually have to go to work anyways) survive the winter. If I didn’t ski, the rain and the incessant storms would be pointless.
How do you like September now?
And in other news, its started snowing in Montana. Specifically Big Sky, Montana. Check out the tramcam to see for yourself. These first snowfalls of the year (already hit Utah and Colorado last month) are what bring the “stoke”.
(This is a far over-used word, and should now only be used by industry marketing departments. Or maybe not even them. Presumably it means that these photos stoke the fire of last season’s enthusiasm. That the embers have continued smoldering over the summer, and now are being blown back into a conflagration.)
This isn’t a bad metaphor. But it’s become a cliche. Free copy of my book to anyone who can come up with a better metaphor/incantation for building enthusiasm. I’m all ears. Let’s replace this one before it gets really old.
Also, winter forecasters are calling it a Maybe-Not-So-El-Nino season. Some are leaning towards a weak El Nino or possibly a neutral year. Neutral is usually good for us. Very weak El Nino’s tend to be decent as well. Our biggest storm events have happened on neutral years.
So we have that going for us. Which is nice.