The sun can't hide forever

Gloom pervades national and local news lately. Yesterday we lost Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Aside from my family, Michael Jackson was maybe the most important person in my life during my younger years. He was my first celebrity crush, and his red-leather-clad action figure was a prized toy. The Thriller tape (back when you bought music on tapes) was perhaps the only popular music I enjoyed until my teenage years (though the video was way too scary for me to handle). It's been a sad week.

And a dreary month. It has been the cloudiest June in recorded history. If this is how Pacific Northwesterners live, you have my deepest sympathies. All of this grayness gets you down, and it also makes you worry about the health of your tomatoes.

Not that we're growing them. Last December, we joined a CSA, community-support agriculture program, and we've had a few pickups already. New England CSAs challenge you to remember your New England strength during the month of June, in which lettuce, bok choy, spinach, beets, radishes, swiss chard, and kale play a significant role. Luckily, strawberries are available to remind you of the goodness ahead. LS promises me that better veggies will be available the second week of July. though who knows how their quality will be since they've been drowning these recent weeks. Wasn't there a pumpkin shortage a few years ago due to an unusually rainy spring? I shall have to stock up on pumpkins early in the season to guarantee some festive fall cheer.

But all in good time - for now, it's time to put an end to my little doom-and-gloom party and buck up, cowgirl. This weekend promises to bring at least a little sun, and it can't rain all summer (right?). July 4 is around the corner, and with July 4 comes sunshine, hot dogs, fried dough, watermelon, fireworks, Cape Cod weekends, and summer fun. I've already moved my summer clothes to the top rack of my closet, and one of these days, we'll be able to eat dinner on our patio, and we might even work up the courage to put screens in our front and back doors. Come on over, summer, we're ready and waiting.