First, there was the rain. Lots and lots of rain. It looked like summer was going to be nothing but bleak and wet and, oh, a bit chilly for what one might expect for summer temps. Although Mother Nature provided perfect summer days for the 4th of July weekend, things quickly returned to the unseasonable conditions for another stretch. Believe it or not, we didn't even put our air conditioner in the window until mid-July and it never was used in any continuous way until closer to the month of August. But, then, the stickies arrived. The temperatures became what would be expected for summer (75-88 degrees), but the humidity was so high that conditions became oppressive. There were times that the humidity was so high that the air was so "thick" that you could see the air right before your eyes...and swore that you could grab a handful of it.

Another thing about this summer is that I worked in the office more days than not, which is all very new to me, especially seeing that I had gotten used to a more flexible scheduling of my time for numerous summers in a row. So, with Edie and I working so much, being a little more anxious to just relax, and still not being any richer for some reason, we didn't do as many things as we normally do during the summer. There have been no outdoor concerts, no leisurely walks together to take pictures, no visits to amusement parks, no drives out to area beaches, etc.

I made a couple of trips to New Hampshire this summer, though, but traveled alone because Edie had to work. One trip was to attend a memorial service for a cousin who passed away. It might have been a sad occasion for the trip and the gathering of family members, but it also turned out to be a nice gathering of loved ones who were all very happy to see each other and to be able to spend a little time together. The other trip was to attend my cousin's daughter's first birthday party. That turned out to be a nice trip, too, although the ride up there was absolutely awful (it took over 3-1/2 hrs to make the usual 2 hr. drive and I discovered I wasn't feeling so well when I was about half way up there). I had to excuse myself from the party guests to go sit inside the house for a while until the waves of nausea, dizziness, and chest tightness passed. Once passed, though, I was fine, all was well, and the party and visit were fun, fun, fun.

I can't seem to put my finger on what or why things seem different or wrong or troubled, but Edie and I have been out of sorts with each other on and off, too, this summer. This adds to the strangeness that seems to be the best way to describe this summer. I'm hopeful that all will be fine and it's just "something we're going through right now", like a bad mood that's just waiting to be forced out, but, of course, it is something that worries, hurts, and scares me. I know there has to be something wrong because summer is usually our happiest time of the year in spite of any worries there may be.

Yet, there have been a few highlights, too. Some of Edie's friends from her high school days were here visiting and we got together with them for a couple of days. I got to go out to eat with my friend, Debbie, a couple of times and Edie and I went out to eat a couple of times, too. I also got to meet some online friends for the first time, too. (More on these visits in future posts.)

The mix of all of the above has resulted in a breakdown of communications and contacts with most of my friends, including those here in mybloggers. The closeness from the frequency of "visiting" each other here by writing and reading posts, reading and leaving comments, and sharing each others stories and pictures has diminished and, as much as I really wish to change that back to the way things were, time and situations seem to be preventing that from happening right now.

So, yes, this has been one very strange summer and, from the look of things, it continues to be so. I can only hope that it will all chalk up to being nothing more than a strange experience and things will find their way into becoming more comfortable and feeling ok again.