Grading Summer 2010

Summer 2010 is now officially over as of tomorrow. Many of us were decidedly not impressed by the weather this year, but I got to thinking that there's lot more that goes into how I remember a summer and what makes a good summer. Here are a few things I consider and how I think they went this year...

WEATHER: D
This summer was a bummer given the great run of weather we had in summer 2009. Too many ill-timed rainy weekends, too many foggy mornings that cleared off only after 2 or 3 p.m. and not enough days in the 70s and 80s. It wasn't worse than a few I can remember, but definitely below average, and, therefore, very disappointing. The only saving grace for us was that we got out of Seattle to Iowa and Arizona and experienced hot, sunny weather there. Throw in our late May trip to Egypt (hot!) and it didn't seem too bad this year. But, for Washington state itself...D!

TRIPS: A
I'm giving this summer and A for activities. Lets run through a few of them:

• July - trip to Iowa to visit my grandma over the 4th of July weekend
• August - trip to the Grand Canyon with a one day kicker in Las Vegas
• September - long weekend in the San Juan Islands

CONCERTS: A
While there is no clear "dear god, I can't believe I just saw these guys live and I'll never be the same" concerts for me this summer, it rates an A because of how many good shows we saw.

• Jimmy Cliff outdoors at the zoo
• Buddy Guy/Robert Cray outdoors at the Tulalip Amphitheater
• Carbon Leaf outdoors at the zoo
• Problem Child at the Seattle Hard Rock Cafe
• Crowded House outdoors at the St. Michele winery
• Gaslight Anthem at the Showbox SoDo
• Willie Nelson at the Puyallup Fairgrounds
• ..and I'm going to include The Beatles Love show at the Mirage in Vegas too.

SPORTS: A-
This was actually a very good summer for sports - at least for me.

First, the bad news. As an admitted "fair weather" Mariners fan I lost interest in them in early May when I realized they were horrible. So, the grade is a little degraded because I think to get an A or A+, the Ms at least would have to have been competitive and in the mix into June and July.

But, the rest of summer 2010 was dy-no-mite. Here's why:

• An exciting World Cup in which the Team USA performed well and there were many great matches to watch
• A hugely compelling Tour de France that engrossed me
• The Seattle Sounders started their season turn-around starting this summer and that was fun to watch too.
• My Oregon Ducks football team returned to the gridiron and has sprinted out to an impressive 3-0 record before the end of summer

ACTIVITIES: A
Lots!

• 5K run in Iowa
• Started training for the Bellingham half marathon
• Biking on San Juan Island
• Sea kayaking in the San Juan Islands
• Biking around Ballard instead of driving
• Hiking up Granite Mountain

OVERALL: A-
Summer 2010 gets an A- in my book. Lots of fun and activities, but not great weather and pitiful Ms team. More sun and warm weather would have meant more hikes or more outings on our bicycles. A competitive Ms would have provided one more great sports story to pay attention to. But other than that...good stuff!