Wednesday morning, I pulled the scooter out of the garage and greeted blue skies and the beginnings of a beautiful sunrise. By the time the morning was over the blue skies had been replaced with a layer of dark gray clouds. Those clouds hung around for the rest of the day. They looked heavy with rain and I was pretty sure that my ride home that evening would be a painfully wet ride. I went to yoga class that evening and every time I'd lift up to up dog, I'd take a peak out the window at the sky. The clouds seemed to grow heavier and more ominous with each round of Sun Salutation. At the end of class, I put on my rain jacket, zipping it all the way up to my throat. I hopped on the scooter and headed home. Though the clouds were heavy with rain, I didn't feel one sting of a rain drop. Instead of rain I was greeted with the smells that come just before the rain. Honeysuckle was thick in the air as I left the parking garage. Next came the smell of fried chicken from Go Chicken Go. After this came the smell of of wet dirt, car exhaust, and sometimes the smell of something being grilled on charcoal. Basically, instead of rain, I rode home through the smells of summer. This summer has felt odd to me. Like we got a late start. During what was supposed to be our Spring time, the weather flip flopped from cold damp to threats of frost back to cold damp and then sprinkled in patches of warm. Never leave the house without a sweater (or a towel). That's the most important lesson in life kids. As a result our June is beginning to look more Spring like than Summer. Thursday was rainy with a high of 76 and we decided to not attempt a camping trip this weekend because we are expected to have more of the same type of weather. When the days are warm, they are warm and humid which is something I've heard most people complaining about here. "Oh, the humidity!" I am probably the only person who does not mind. It is the type of weather that reminds me of laying across the rocking love seat on Pepaw's front porch with a book in my face while I listened to the buzz of wasps that were constantly swirling around the jungle of tomato plants Pepaw had climbing up the side of the porch. Summers in Oklahoma are notoriously hot and dry, leaving you feeling liked a baked cookie. I loved those muggy summer visits to Mississippi because of the humidity.

I am thankful that I did not have to ride the scooter home in the rain this week. I am thankful that the rain has held out until late in the night before pouring down on us. The garden is full of greens. Seeds planted two weeks ago are well on their way to becoming beans, cucumbers and okra. The potted plants in the front yard are lush and happy and every time I step out front, I am filled with joy over the sight of them. I know this humid weather is the reason for those thriving plants. I am thankful for the smells of summer, the honeysuckle and fresh mowed lawns and campfires, even that fried chicken from Go Chicken Go. I am also thankful for the sounds of summer. I can hear kids playing outside late in the evening. The ice cream van playing Bingo Was His Name(O) twists his way through the neighborhood. There always the sound of someone doing yard work. All of it makes me long for a hammock and a book. I am no fair weather girl, but I sure am a summer weather girl.

There's always so much to be thankful for. Here's a perfectly pleasant weekend and an amazing Thankful Friday!