The Useless Summer

Today Oregon will get its first fall storm, with a lot of rain predicted.

Sure we need rain.  

But my heart sinks to think of it.  The summer was completely useless.

We waited so long for summer after a winter that broke every record for rainfall.  Last winter stretched on forever and was one of Oregon's most depressing and wet.

Finally in mid June, summer hit.   It hit hot and hard and wildfires broke out everywhere.  Aided by teens with no brains, intent on social media stardom, and others both malicious and careless---firecrackers, unattended campfires, driving on dry grass, the usual causes.  The air lay low and thick in smoke much of the summer.  Here in the mid valley the misery was compounded by the grass seeders plowing dirt fields sending up massive plumes of dirt to hang in the already heavy awful air.

My knee popped in June too, leaving me unable to walk without wanting to scream for a couple months and it still hurts nights and still I have no idea what went wrong.

The car failed, too but still sits in the driveway, along with the latest, the new old car.

I count on summer to get out away from people, hike or camp, take the raft out and I didn't get any of that this summer except for a couple times out on a very very crowded reservoir.

I guess I'm bummed, knowing the rain is coming later today, lots of it, and that summer is gone, although the air quality yesterday was so bad who really gives a damn if its summer or winter when the air is worse than Beijing?

A forecaster bit his lip yesterday, stared apologetically into the camera and said we might be in for another horror of a winter with La Ninja rains.

Another bummer for me is how fast this town is growing, sprawling along the freeway, every square inch being developed into high density housing, without the roads that will handle the massive influx.  A block away a field has now been filled with dirt and leveled, and I bet it will be wall to wall look alike houses put up and the only street can't handle even more traffic.  There's no core to this town, just sprawl along the freeway, no real parks outside of squares of grass, and sports fields, for like baseball or basketball.   It's a wasteland of sprawl and cars and concrete.

 I feel trapped.  I'm old but I want out, away from so many people, but how would I manage a change now?