Ah, rain in the middle of July.
Folks dabbing brows in Phoenix, Ariz., may not even know, because it doesn’t rate national press, that summer has been unusually mild and great for rock hunting in Western Washington.
Little do folks in Oklahoma know they could even wear light jackets wh
ile visiting the Space Needle.
I do believe folks are due attention in parts of the country that hit 100 degrees. Some are stuck in stubborn high-pressure patterns, according to weather reports. On “Fitz in the Morning” at 100.7 The Wolf on Thursday, his mother, Mama Fitz, called in to say it was 105 degrees at her home in Texas and had been at least 100 degrees there for 12 days.
National news crews go crazy for heat waves.
They don’t publicize 68 degree predictions with a chance of rain.
This week, the national news didn’t know whether to focus on deficit reductions or corn wilting on Iowa stalks.
This Washington native will never complain about dreary weather. If you can’t be thrilled about your drawer of unworn tube tops, grin for me. With no forest fires or burn bans, we can roast wieners over the fire pit at our trailer at Lake Tyee near Concrete.
A coworker recently spent time in Kansas. She said when it was 101 degrees, it was hellish. She heard that folks back home in Halstead, Kan., lived in 113-degree weather this week.
“That’s unbearable,” she said.
I am sympathetic to the plight of the sweltering, having spent time in June in New York City. Our son, Brody, kindly showed his old mom and dad around Manhattan between meetings for his job with Microsoft.
Lucky us. We were there on two days when news reports predicted it could be the hottest days of the year. Picture us, riding around Grant’s Tomb (Guess who is buried there — Ulysses and his wife) in an open-topped tour bus as temperatures hit 98 degrees.
Our Seattle Mariner caps provided little relief, but we wore them with pride.
It all seemed worth it when the bus cruised by Zarin Fabrics, owned by one of the ladies on “The Real Housewives of New York,” one of my favorite reality TV shows. Exhaust fumes were choking, but I made it my mission to inform everyone on the bus about the significance of the fabric store.
Few cared.
On the news in New York, we were informed that those languishing between skyscrapers and landmarks in Manhattan could add 5 degrees to the thermometer. The temperature felt like human barbecue time when we took in a game at the new Yankee Stadium. It’s a deep bowl, not as pretty as Safeco Field, with nary a breath of circulating air.
But they serve delicious garlic knots.
I freaked out in the subway going to the game, when the sizzling train got jammed in a black tunnel because another train wasn’t moving.
Claustrophobic nightmares, anyone?
While sightseeing, I couldn’t have cared less about mammoth screens in Times Square showing advertising for things like Kardashian TV shows.
We pointed momentarily at the New Year’s ball, but our priority was finding more gelato.
Our executive editor, Neal Pattison, who has amazing ideas and exhibits a dandy management style (kiss kiss), has a marvelous idea for our area. He says we should advertise back east and offer Gray Day Tours. Invite sweltering folks to come take advantage of our lousy Western Washington weather.
I was thinking we could push breezy hiking or feature the potential for romantic beach walks, carrying umbrellas, that read, “Stop for a minute in Everett on your way to Camano Island.”
We could buy gargantuan advertisements in Times Square to press the idea.
Maybe our cool weather would get a bit of attention, hopefully on the “Today” show.
And at this rate, the Western Washington cool weather tourist season could last through June 2012.
How’s that for an economic boost?
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451; oharran@heraldnet.com.
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