We didn’t get much of a summer in Chicago this year. Temperatures stayed surprisingly cool through most of it and, although we got a few days that were above 85 degrees, I think most Chicagoans agree that this was a non-summer. That was particularly crappy for people who were recently unemployed and experiencing their first summer off in years. They were totally entitled to beautiful weather that could have offered some tiny compensation for not being employed, but no. This summer just sucked for them.
These days fall is in the air, which is making many people unhappy, but not me. I like winter better than summer. Cold weather just makes me feel safer, partly because I prefer my skin covered rather than exposed. Bundling up and hiding in layers of clothing feels like wearing armor against the world. I’m not as vulnerable as I am with arms and legs swinging free.
Also, I’m a low stim person (“low stimulus”) who prefers quiet and darkness to noise and light. During summer weather, everything’s louder: people crow and bray outdoors, music spews out of open windows, arguments explode in the street at 3 a.m. But nothing shuts the city up like a thick muzzle of snow and temperatures below freezing. Ah, yes, here comes the quiet. I say let winter last for months! Fortunately, in Chicago, it does.
Yes. I understand.
When I was younger, and much thinner, I tended to prefer the summer months. Now that I am older and much fatter, I like the late autumn, when it is acceptable to wear a pair of cords and a sweater.