Well, Hello August

I missed greeting you yesterday when you arrived. You really should have called first. I also welcomed July when she arrived however as it turned out, she was not the gracious guest that I had expected, and she bore gifts that - although were appreciated by some (farmers) - were not appropriate for summer vacation!

She held promise of sunshine and warmth and blue skies but instead cloaked us in torrential downpours that fell from rumbling skies. She offered little variety and obviously does not adhere to the philosophy of "all things in moderation" or that there can be too much of a good wet thing. It was disappointing however to let her go ... her departure marks the halfway point of our beloved summer season.

So now it's your turn August. Dazzle us with your charms of summer. Wrap us in your heat and don't be afraid to shine. We Canadians get but a taste of a season in which all living things - plant, animal and human - blossom and spring forth with renewed vigor and sway in the sweetness of sunshine. We get a mere appetizer to hold us over the many more cold, dark days of winter. So be generous August. Show us your stuff. Put your best face forward. And I promise, we'll invite you back again.