Summer: two months late

I was having dinner with some family and friends last night and one of them mentioned that "summer is finally here." Odd, I thought, my calendar shows that it is August, and therefore almost the end of summer.

When I woke up this morning, I understood what she was talking about. I've only been in California for just under a year, but I remembered it was swealtering when I first moved down here last year. The thermometer has risen again, after a fairly cool June/July. We're now back in the mid-80s, but it feels more like closer to 100 with little to no wind. Maybe I'm still used to temperatures in the Pacific NW, so what feels hot here really isn't. Yesterday and today were almost unbearable to be outside. The gardening that I had been planning has yet to be accomplished. Did I mention, as well, how hard it is to concentrate on work when you are sweating profusely?

Of course, further support of my "it's too hot" argument can be found here, where it states that "This year's low snowpack strongly mimics what we expect to be normal conditions in 40 or 50 years because of global warming." No more skiing or snowboarding? I'd hate to see that become a reality.