Pre-tensions

Summer always seems to happen all of a sudden, and every year it takes me a little while to realise that it's actually happening. In the 6-8 months of winter we get here, summer to me is like distant memory of something rare that happened years ago. I can't conceive of green grass and sunburns, mosquitoes and sunshine at 9pm. In the first few weeks of real summer weather, after the annual May snow that we're all still surprised to see, I feel a strange euphoria. Like this perfect weather can't really be happening. I tell myself I will not take it for granted. I'll get outside every day and enjoy the fleeting green. I will go to the mountains and attend music festivals. But after those few initial weeks, I start adapting. I stay inside because it's cooler. I complain about the heat and the sunburns and the mosquitoes. And by September, I'm already mourning the loss of long sunny days and picnics in the backyard. Summer turns into that distant, misty-eyed fantasy again, and I prepare for the next long winter.

I wish I lived closer to downtown. I'd love to be able to just go somewhere with someone without having to set up a date and time, without setting it up days in advance and without figuring out bus routes and schedules. I've decided that my dream living accomodations are the apartments above the Oolong tea house and Hot Wax. They're super close to ACAD, relatively inexpensive, and seem like just the broken-down, ramshackle bohemian apartments I've been looking for. I could walk across the street and buy cupcakes! I could walk down to the theatre and see indie films whenever I wanted! I could wander down to The House and get drunk while listening to live music! I would never have to buy a car! I could live the dream of being a new urbanite in a suburban city. My dream is tangible; I just hope it's still there when I'm ready to move out.