Heat wave

I sure hope we won't have anything like this during our time back in Michigan. To be sure, I've lived so long in the Pacific Northwet that I think it's really hot when it gets above 80F, and the absolute finest weather on Earth is to be in the mid-50s with a light mist wafted to your face by a gentle breeze, but I remember summer days in Midland that were so hot and humid my friends and I would retreat to the basement to play. (And other days we spent at the now-gone pool.)

And it's also become odd to see a headline reading rained out at this time of year, right at the peak of Seattle's short dry season.

But the latter will serve as a reminder that I should prepare for the possibility of heat and/or rain. For the former at least A/C is standard in hotels and rental cars; don't have it in my car or house -- don't need it, and rarely even really want it.

But for rain, we have our umbrellas bought during a heavy downpour in a visit to NYC in 1999 and I will make sure we pack those. No self-respecting Seattleite uses an umbrella here (that's what our rain-shell/parkas are for) but my umbrella remains a part of my travel kit.

Just in case.