Is it summer yet?

After over half a year of cold weather, we have finally arrived at the most celebrated season of the year – Summer. Only after moving to the US did I realize the value of summer and what it means to the Americans. June, July and August are the most eagerly awaited months of the year when days are the longest; the sun is at its brightest and the landscape, its greenest!  Summers means a lot of things to a lot people – everything seems more vibrant, liberating and hopeful. Though having spent over quarter of a century’s summers in India, it only here in the US that I have truly experienced summer bliss! It may be hard to believe, but after reeling under freezing temperatures for over four months, there’s nothing like a bright golden summer afternoon! :-)

Though most of the US has been basking under the summer heat for over a month now, I must say the weather in Portland has had a mind of its own – probably taking a cue from our kids! It’s only in the last couple of days, we have truly seen the sun unabashedly shine without ducking behind the omnipresent Northwest clouds! So instead of a full blown ‘summer’ book, I thought “Mama, is it summer yet?” by Nikki Mclure was an ideal read for people living in the Northwest US. A little boy and his mother eagerly wait for summer as they see buds on the bushes, seeds planted in the earth, blossoms on the apple tree. The mother encourages her son to look around and see the nesting squirrels, singing swallows and swimming ducklings as signs of the cold weather transitioning into summer. The little boy then asks a question that seems to be on all our minds – “Isn’t it summer yet?"