First wet, then dry - the not so hot, not so long summer

Elmore Leonard  passed away recently.  The number one rule on his list, "10 Rules of Writing" is "Never open a book with weather."  Well, I am writing a stinking blog post, not a book, so I am going to talk about the weather.  RIP, Mr. Leonard - at least you didn't live to see this post.  Of course, you wouldn't see this post even if you were alive and well.

Here in Chicago, we had the wettest six months on record (since 1882) from January 1, 2013 through June 30, 2013.  We had 28.46 inches of rain, which is more than Chicago received for the entire year in 2012.  Then on July 1, some Cosmic Hand turned off the Big Sprinkler.  We have had 3.24 inches of rain from July 1 through August 21, the least amount of rain to have fallen over that time in 69 years.  The vegetation is browning out, the guys out in the Corn Belt are grousing a bit.  And now we are expecting the temps to ascend to the 90's again - we had a cool stretch, but that is probably over.  It feels like summer started late and now is cranking up trying to make up for last time.

The weather always grabs our attention because we experience it everyday and we can't control it. 

Warning - metaphor approaching! 

Have you ever had something that was impacting you every waking second, gnawing on your psyche, something you were adjusting to, trying to prepare for but couldn't really change in any way?  We wander around with personal weather in our heads.

You can't change the way someone else thinks and behaves, really.  You can't control any of random events that wash over you every day.  Through preparation and attitude, you can avoid some of frustrations caused by lack of control, but many outcomes are not in our hands.  We hate that, and most of us can't accept it.