June is usually a fun month in Redding. The days start early and leave late, and are long with sun. It’s warm but not hot. And it’s not uncommon to be graced by a shower or two. I’ve grown accustomed to enjoying June as best I can, knowing July will arrive with its unrelenting furnace of summer. Unfortunately, the 2024 version of June is nothing more than July dressed up like the last month of Spring, unable to hide its heat and contempt for clouds and rain.

Almost surprisingly, I’m not mad about it. Disappointed, but not angry. How can I be? Railing against the weather makes as much sense asking a dog to be a turtle or going to McDonalds for a salad. I’m choosing to embrace this early start to summer. The hundred day clock in my head helps. From today, it will end on the first official day of autumn, when the days will be almost four hours shorter and the heat will have eased. And expect my life to have changed a good bit by then as well. I’ll be back in school, at Shasta Community, working a new job, and nearly finished with my novel.

Here’s to a good summer. I’m planning to go to lake more than in the past. Hope it helps.