Summer!

[Magmar]

Happy Summer to all or happy Winter to ya'll in the South! I do love Winter as well.

The first day of Summer started off with a shooting right up the street from me/on the block I used to live on (link) and yes, I live in that "Wanskuck" neighborhood. Then my biffle came over to let me know that there's a gang war raging in the projects that are right across the street from my house. There was a fight on my morning bus home from my boyfriend's house. Lo and behold, right now there's a bomb threat on that line and they've quarantined the bus line, as well as swarms of officers at the bus station hub.

Does shit hit the fan where you're at in the summer??

I'm sipping coffee, hanging laundry, and listening to Death Cab... seriously why is shit nuts outside?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

I love winter over all the other seasons. I'd wish to have a summer cottage in South Pole.

Of course summer is good too because it's the most popular holiday season here in Finland, the schools are closed for a total of 2 months and everyone's free. Also there're plenty of light, the sun never sets in Northern Lapland. Today it's Juhannusaatto, and it's going to be a big midsummer fest tonight. If I'm awake, I'm going to see the 'midsummer train' on 3:30 AM. They're going to broadcast that LIVE on Yle Teema so if someone's able to see Finnish TV, you may want to look up for me!!

[Jeff]

Glad to say I don't live in a bad neighborhood, so I don't deal with anything like that. I do have to deal with traffic though. I may live on an island, but the main highway connecting Baltimore and DC to the beach passes right through us and always gets backed up Sunday night when everyone is going back home, and in the cases where the backup is really bad, they slip off onto the local roads and back them up too. So Saturday evenings are really about the only time we can get out and across the bridge, other than going through the week.

But that's probably the worst thing we have to deal with in the Summer, other than the usual heat and humidity. Summer is pretty awesome other than that. I'm pretty exited about one of my favorite summer traditions for my family that we haven't done in a long time, in a few weeks, we're heading down to Florida! So with that and some other things, I think it's going to be a pretty epic summer this year.

[Blademaster]

Best first day of summer since grade school.

[Becky]

I love summer. Granted, this year was especially meaningful since our summer started early (two weeks in Jamaica!) but it's been nice getting to make use of bikinis, lounging by the pool and reading, wrapping up the dissertation (with a nice iced coffee) and generally spending time with our families. This weather just makes me so happy!

Jeff, your family tradition sounds awesome!