Are we there yet?

It seems we were all waiting with bated breath for summer to begin this year.

Spring was a slow and poignant thing, and not the luxurious beginning to a decadent season of warmth and richness of blossoms and bounty.

Summer did arrive right on time in the Okanagan, according to the calendar, but when you live in paradise, just meeting the status quo is in the “not quite satisfactory” column.

But if we are to have only the usual Canadian allotment for summer (July and August, with the hope for a pleasant September), then we certainly need to lose our sense of reticence that this might be as good as it gets, don’t you think?

Like those kids that keep asking in anticipation of the destination, we keep talking of the weather as if we can will it to improve. I say it’s time we showed more bravado and said, “Here goes nothing!”

I will be gardening in my gum boots this weekend if that is what it takes. I have had the biscuit with this idea of sitting inside snivelling, like Mother Nature is some schoolyard bully who has us all running scared.

School is out for summer, Ms. Nature, and you don’t scare me!

The local garden stores may need to stock up on propane heaters instead of fans this year. We might want to look up some recipes for coffee cocktails to serve later on instead of making that extra pitcher of sangria.

But don’t despair, folks! We can still show the rest of the world that all is not lost in the erstwhile sunny Okanagan.

I say, be extravagant. Damn the torpedoes! If it takes having a beach party with fleece blankets and grappling hooks, then so be it. (We could have used those this past week at a Girl Guide beach party in that wind storm.)

Call your neighbours or friends or family and have a party to celebrate… what are we celebrating?

The fact that it’s not winter! (OK, so call me a “glass half full” kind of gal – it is more fun that way, wouldn’t you say so?)

If you are thinking it’s not worth taking the boat out on the lake because it’s more cloudy than sunny, how about making a game of chasing the sunny spots? It worked really well for us last weekend.

I had grand plans to be ahead of the game with my garden this year – tomatoes in mid July, I said to Martin. Oh, well. I’m getting to like the green tomato chutney we make, so a short season isn’t the end of the world.

And the fellow I bought veggies from at the farmers’ market last Saturday said he hadn’t watered anything since he planted it this spring. How green is that?

So, here’s to an enjoyable summer, however long or short it may be. I do hope you get to make the most of it, in whatever way suits you.

Garden carrots with the dirt still on, homemade burgers on the grill, fresh lemonade from a budding neighbourhood entrepreneur… the tastes of this season are meant to be savoured.

After all, the days do get shorter from here on in.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.