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Post by kds on Jun 7, 2022 15:18:27 GMT
Memorial Day has come and gone, so that means it's "summertime." Yes, I know summer does not officially begin for another two weeks. But, I don't know about anyone else, but I've never really considered any days in June as "Spring." Calendar and solstice be damned.
Summer is my favorite time of year. Late sunsets, hot and warm weather, trips to the beach, cook outs, lightning bugs, carnivals, ice cream, weekend evenings on the deck before the sun does down, summer music. I love it all.
And, for the first time since 2019, I'm actually scheduled to go to some concerts this summer. And hopefully, I'll also make a baseball game or so, which I also haven't done since 2019.
As per usual, we have three trips on tap to Ocean City, Maryland, this summer. My childhood summer paradise, and still a source of many great life memories. We'll do our full week long vacation next month. Then, we'll do a long weekend in August, and have a last hurrah on Labor Day Weekend.
This summer is also nice because it'll feature four holiday weekends. Memorial Day Weekend, Juneteenth Weekend (which I get off as a Government employee), Fourth of July Weekend, and Labor Day Weekend. And, this won't happen every summer. Next year, July 4 is a Tuesday, so that won't be a long weekend. The following year, Juneteen (June 19) will fall on a Wednesday, so that won't be a long weekend.
I actually think that June might be my favorite month of the year. It's typically before things get a little busy with our summers. And, everything feels like it's right in front of you, knowing we're in for three plus months of summer weather. Every year, it seems like as soon as Fourth of July weekend happens, the rest of the summer tends to accelerate.
I will say there's one thing I used to love that I don't really embrace that much anymore. Summer blockbusters. I used to love reading the summer movie previews or watching the Entertainment Tonight Summer Movie Preview specials. But, as the years have gone by, I've found less summer movies that I really want to see.
The last time and I went to the movies in the summertime was actually in 2020. Luckily, we have a Drive In nearby, and they were playing Bill and Ted Face the Music. I think my previous trip to the movies prior to that was in 2015, for one of the Jurassic Park sequels (I think it was the first Jurassic World). I still have very fond memories of the summer of 1989 in particular, when Ghostbusters II and Batman were released.
But, before I ramble too much with my love letter to my favorite season, does anyone else have any plans for Summer 2022?
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 7, 2022 15:36:24 GMT
I'm also a huge fan of June: usually we aren't yet into the 90-degree, humid days (and worse, 75-degree, humid nights) yet, and there is still that absolute thrill of the still-new summer. Spring is hit-and-miss here, usually short whenever it hits, so I associate those general springtime feelings of budding plants, newly warmer weather, rejuvenation, etc., with early summer more than spring.
It occurred to me yesterday I have not yet booked a summer vacation. I've been so busy with work (still covering for my own job and an open position) that every time I think I ought to, I realize I can't take this or that set of days, or I just get too busy to think much about it.
The past couple of years, I've rented the same cabin in the southeastern part of Minnesota, a beautiful area with river valleys, little bluffs, small towns, and farms. I'd like to do that again, though it's late enough that it might not be available. I'm not a big fan of going to "destinations" for vacations: I prefer to get away and have some real quiet. (That's funny to say considering I live alone and work from home!) But I like to be in a relatively modern place--electricity, internet, kitchen--in a relatively isolated place with forests, fields, rivers, lakes, etc. Read a few books, maybe work on music, and just generally recharge. I guess I ought to get on that sooner than later or summer will have passed me by. It goes so fast.
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Post by kds on Jun 7, 2022 15:51:59 GMT
We've surprisingly already had a handful of very hot and humid days. But, this past weekend, and this upcoming weekend were very comfortable high 70s / low 80s days.
I do enjoy my hot / humid days, but it's a little more difficult to do outdoors stuff with my young son when it's excessively hot.
The one thing I don't like about Ocean City, Maryland in the summer is that it's anything but quiet. In the summer months, it becomes the second most populated city in Maryland. But, it's one of those things that I've just kind of accepted, and you can find some quiet times down there on the water.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Jun 7, 2022 16:08:47 GMT
This time last year, my girlfriend and I were on vacation. We had gone early-mid June the past couple years, but this year we booked towards the middle of July in Miami again to experience even warmer waters. On one hand it's worked out great because we're still busy with house stuff, but on the other hand, I didn't think about the likely higher humidity and higher chance of a hurricane rolling through. It also doesn't feel quite like summer since I've been working on my house most days and haven't had a break. We should be done by then, which will be a very welcomed vacation.
Other than that, I'm seeing the Beach Boys in August, still on the fence about seeing Brian, and probably a kayaking trip once or twice that is really just floating down river and drinking. Oh yeah, I'm also going with my girlfriend and one of her friends to see Train (and a couple openers). Not super excited about that one, but they do have a few hits I like.
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Post by kds on Jun 7, 2022 16:20:57 GMT
Surprisingly, there really aren't any convenient BB related dates for me this summer. Which is fine since, other than a couple of Feel Flows era tracks last summer, the setlists for both bands have become rather predictable in recent years.
I do have tickets for Paul McCartney (June 12 in Baltimore), Ringo Starr (June 15 in Baltimore) and Jimmy Buffett (July 19 in Columbia, MD). I'm hoping that the bands and crews remain free of COVID (which adds a new level of anxiousness as the former Beatles concerts are getting very close).
I've never done the floating down the river thing, but always thought that looked like fun. The closest I ever got as the fake lazy rivers at water parks, but they don't allow drinking of any kind on those.
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Post by kds on Jun 9, 2022 14:33:38 GMT
I noticed another sure sign of summer the other day.
While at the grocery store, I noticed a yellow trailer in the parking lot, so that means the pop up "firework" stands are about to open. I put that in quotes because fireworks are illegal in Maryland (although you wouldn't know it by the time we get close to early July), so these stands mostly sell small things like sparklers, Roman candles, black snakes, etc. That type of stuff I really don't mind so much.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 9, 2022 14:41:43 GMT
That reminds me, there were people setting off fireworks the past few evenings around here. Pretty unusual this early in the season, at least as far as I can recall.
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Post by kds on Jun 9, 2022 14:56:42 GMT
That reminds me, there were people setting off fireworks the past few evenings around here. Pretty unusual this early in the season, at least as far as I can recall. When I lived in Baltimore City, fireworks were pretty constant on weekends from Memorial Day through the Fourth of July. Since I relocated to Baltimore County in late July 2017, we didn't hear as many. That changed in the summer of 2020, especially in the early part of the summertime, when most people were still house bound thanks to the initial surge of COVID 19. That was pretty much the same last summer. So far, this summer, things have been fairly quiet. I've heard a few stray fireworks the last couple Saturdays as it got dark, but nothing like we had the last two summers.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 10, 2022 13:14:31 GMT
OK, I guess it's really summer now. Our 10-day forecast is: 80, 78, 83, 88, 96(!), 83, 85, 92, 95, 93.
Those temps aren't unusual for Minneapolis in summer, but they are pretty high for a consecutive stretch of days in June, where the hotter days are often one-offs. Generally it's in July or August when we get longer streaks of days that hot.
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Post by kds on Jun 10, 2022 13:21:03 GMT
Tomorrow is supposed to be somewhat cool for mid June with a high of only 74. But, after that, it looks like we'll be hovering in the mid 80s for most of the rest of June. We've had a few days off and on with highs in the 90s, but we typically don't get consistently hot until about early July.
As much as I enjoy the hot weather, with the price of gas and groceries going up, I'll take a bit of a break on my energy bill. I have a central air unit that's old enough to vote now, and it can struggle during the daytime hours on really hot days.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Jun 10, 2022 13:45:39 GMT
It's supposed to be mid 90s next week. I think I'll do some painting rather than continue to work on the landscaping.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 10, 2022 13:53:33 GMT
It's supposed to be mid 90s next week. I think I'll do some painting rather than continue to work on the landscaping. I remember when, about 12 years ago probably, a friend of mine who had some professional landscaping experience helped me plan my back yard project, taking it from the near-jungle of apparently wild flowers (and weeds) it was when I moved in to the better looking and more functional small raised bed garden, yard, and patio it remains. I (and briefly a brother of mine) were his manual labor for this massive project.
And right when it began? Minnesota became the tropics, alternating downpours and 100-degree, humid days. I think I'm still sore and dehydrated! Point being, I definitely recommend something a little lighter than landscaping when it starts getting too hot and humid.
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Post by kds on Jun 10, 2022 14:06:02 GMT
I finally broke down and hired somebody to do the necessary landscaping in my yard. When I first moved into my house in July 2017, there was some growth along the fence. Somewhat naively, I thought "I can take care of that on a random weekend." Well, that weekend never came. My son was born in December 2017, and that was that.
Sometimes, I'd manage to do some trimming just to keep it from looking unsightly. But, this spring, I finally bowed down and got somebody to clear off some of the shrubbery, which had really begun to be overgrown over the last year or two.
Between that, and a tree removal from last year, my backyard is slowly starting to resemble something I can enjoy. I'll cut the grass, and do the weedwhacking, but I'll leave any major stuff to a pro.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 10, 2022 14:11:00 GMT
I've gotten to that point, as well. Frankly by the weekends, I'm exhausted. And I'm getting old, goddamn it. Fortunately there isn't a lot of major stuff to be done, but when it comes about now, I'm all for hiring someone.
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Post by kds on Jun 10, 2022 14:24:24 GMT
I've gotten to that point, as well. Frankly by the weekends, I'm exhausted. And I'm getting old, goddamn it. Fortunately there isn't a lot of major stuff to be done, but when it comes about now, I'm all for hiring someone. That's how I feel. I'm in my 40s, and with a four year old, it's challenging enough to find some leisure time on the weekends. So, for stuff like that, I'm fine with having a professional do it.
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