By my best guess, summer ended in Portland right around July 21st.

A month later, during a time when the weather should be in the high 80s and the sky should be free from cloud clover, the Rose City is experiencing yet another overcast day with temperatures hovering around 70.

It all started with a full week of rain at the end of July. In the days since, we seen the occasional string of clear days but they always occur during the middle of the week. When Saturday comes around, the clouds inevitably roll back in and the air temperature becomes cool enough to warrant a hoodie.

The sun hasn't been out since Friday. I already have dead leaves in my hammock. Elsewhere around town, kids are pestering their parents for hot chocolate while others are content, happy that they can spend the remainder of 2007's summer days on the couch, free from the nagging feeling that they should be running around outdoors.

But not me, dammit. I want the heat. I want sunburns and sweat marks under my arms. I pine for the ability to lounge around on the decks of various restaurants and taverns without getting hit by raindrops. I need a reason to drink crappy homemade margaritas and that reason is a 87 degree day (preferably with low humidity, a light breeze and little auto traffic on my street). Like many, I begrudgingly put up with Portland's nine months of rain clouds because it always comes with the promise of 2.5 - 3 months of idyllic summer weather- weather that doesn't require me to wear socks between July 5th and the early part of October.

It's an inalienable right that comes with living in this town and we've been swindled. If there were a legal system for this sort of thing, I'd file a class action suit against the sky. I'm not entirely unreasonable. I'd be willing to accept an out-of-court, non-monetary settlement provided that the sky makes up for these days of murkiness. If it couldn't give us sunny days in August, that means it should make up for them in October. If there is any justice in this world, come Halloween we'll all be carving pumpkins in 90 degree weather.

Labels: Portland, weather