Now that the Memorial Day weekend sales have come and gone, we’ve moved (in our state at least) into the next season. Yes, I’m talking about The Construction Zone! From now until Labor Day, worker bees will tear up good roads to repave them (ignoring the ones with potholes), repaint one or two of Seattle’s major bridges—further tying up traffic, and our apartment complex will send around flyers declaring that all items must be removed from our patios so they can repaint the building which they won’t do until August (thus eliminating our ability to plant our hanging baskets until aster and chrysanthemum season). They will reroof a building or three, making it impossible to hear each other over the roar of machinery and pounding of hammers, and smell up our environment so that we’ll be forced to keep our windows closed during the only warm months available (necessitating the use of fans to move the air since we can’t take advantage of natural breezes). And why is it that even with gas nearly $4 a gallon that the landscape crew power mows the barely visible lawn each week and then uses a gas powered leaf blower to move the detritus from one spot to another?

I long for the quiet summer days in the countryside of my youth where the only sounds were kids playing, push lawn mowers cutting, rakes sweeping, and dogs barking at pesky door-to-door salesmen and evangelists. Well, maybe those days weren’t so idyllic after all. I think I’m in the mood for some lemonade or iced tea.