I Love Summer in Alaska

Summer in Alaska is what we get paid after six months of dark cold winter and it couldn't be better. If the weather were like this all year round you'd live here too I promise you. So here are the things that keep the romance alive in my Alaskan love affair.

1. Daylight at 10 pm. And 11 pm. And midnight. Last week was solstice and it's bright all night long. What's not to love? Unless . . . um . . . you have kids who aren't used to the daylight and won't sleep. That wouldn't be pleasant.

2. Hanging my laundry on the line. I have a dryer but why use it when I can hang clothes on the line? I wonder what my neighbors think of us with our laundry flapping but it's so therapeutic when the sun is out and there's just the slightest breeze. It makes my sheets smell so good and drops our gas bill to nearly-reasonable rates.

3. The smell of tomato plants. Why don't the leaves smell like the fruit? Tomatoes are fine but the smell of the leaves when they've been sitting in the sun is like a drug to me. I can't get enough.

4. Sitting on my back deck in the sunshine. In the winter Andrew and I get frustrated with our drafty old house but come summer we forget that we were ever anything but hopelessly in love with our back yard. It's hard to find large back yards in Anchorage nowadays but we have this great two-tiered deck that overlooks a fabulous green yard and every summer all I want to do is sit out in the sun in the hammock chairs and relax. Only down side is that the glare off of my computer screen makes it hard to blog in the bright sunlight. I guess you can't have it all.

5. Peonies. My very favorite flower. Is there anything more delicate yet dramatic than a peony? Do you say pee-YO-nee or peeya-NEE? (I say it the right way).

6. Sleeping with the windows open. Smelling night air while I sleep is a luxury I cherish each summer. Especially when it gets a bit chilly and I can put on an extra blanket before morning. I like that. I enjoy hearing the birds singing all night though one year we had this horrible magpie problem where mating season was scheduled in our back yard. Talk about your noise! They were animals I tell you.

7. My garden. Raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, kiwi, chives, thyme, lilies, peas . . . I love growing things, it makes one feel so darn productive. Though by fall I do get a little tired of the weeding and watering and mowing and am rather glad to get a six-month reprieve.

8. Watching the kids run through the sprinkler. They set it up under the trampoline and go at it. My silly Alaskans will beg to bring out the bathing suits the first day the thermometer hits 55. If it weren't for their mother's good sense they'd have died of hypothermia long ago.

9. Going barefoot. I dislike wearing socks or shoes but do so because I own the world's Coldest Pair of Feet. No kidding, just ask Andrew. Like icicles grafted onto my legs they are. So I'm forced to wear slippers and socks all winter to keep from having my toes shrivel up and fall off. When the weather's good I say goodbye to the socks and run free through the house unfettered by footwear.

10. Being hot even in the shade. It doesn't get this hot in Anchorage that often but when it does I just love the feeling. Being shaded and still being cozy--how luscious is that?

11. Eating al fresco meals. We have a large banquet table that we set up on the back lawn--food tastes better when outside. It's a scientific fact--even asparagus is 63% more palatable to Spencer when eaten outdoors. 75% if eaten while on a germ-infested, charcoal-coated stick. Can't beat statistics like that. Not with a germ-infested stick.

12. Walks with Andrew. We have a great walking neighborhood. Fun gardens and pretty places to walk, footpaths and bike trails--one of my favorite things all summer is to take an evening walk with Andrew. Sometimes it's hard to keep up though, he walks pretty fast.

13. Thunder and lightning. It doesn't often get warm enough to produce lightning and thunder in Anchorage but once or twice a summer it seems we get a little storm that thrills the kids and makes everyone shiver with excitement. Can you believe that after growing up here the first time I saw lightning was at college? It's too bright to see the lightning this far north so seeing a bona fide fork of electricity shoot across the sky was something to write home about. If I can get some thunder and lightning I'm loving it, and if there's a good summer downpour while I'm comfy in bed it's even better.

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