My old red Adirondack chair occupies a sheltered corner of my deck year round.

I keep an old blue and white quilt tucked over the back, and often on a chilly afternoon I brew a cup of steaming tea, put on a warm jacket and wrap up in that quilt to enjoy the fresh cold air.

Sometimes it’s raining, but I stay dry in my protected corner. Fall, winter and springtime bring plenty of those chilly opportunities.

As far as I’m concerned, summer begins on the first afternoon I sit on my deck with a book, a cold drink and a snack—and no sweater or blanket. 

My cat Benjamin stretches out in the sunshine to warm his fur, and the blue petunias I optimistically planted one damp gray day lift their fragrant faces to the sun. 

I put my feet up, turn the page of whatever book I’m reading, and settle in for a pleasant hour.  Yes, I believe it’s summer.

My mom loved summertime—but she did not prefer heat. 

When my folks decided to move from Yakima, which was very hot in the summer, I’m sure Mom looked forward to the Seattle climate, which is not that much different from the climate in Ferndale, where she lived as a young girl. 

My dad, though, all his life enjoyed hot weather.  During his later years, when he and my mother spent winter weeks in Arizona and southern California, he frequently commented that he liked the heat in those places. 

My mother, though, took walks in the early mornings on those trips and sought shade or air-conditioning during the heat of the day.

The thing is, of course, that Pacific Northwest weather doesn’t change from cool and damp to warm and dry--and stay that way.  Sunshine can appear, with balmy blue skies and the softest of breezes, only to revert to steady rain the morning of an outdoor event. Everyone knows that. 

Still, people try to outwit the weather.

Exasperated planners of weddings, festivals, markets and parades lament that they would think the weatherman (or Mother Nature) could give them a break, just this once!

Alas, there’s no way to order favorable conditions.  Most people I know are good sports about unpredictable weather, though.  (Really, why complain?)

All this talk about events and weather brings me to the Edmonds Food Bank Benefit Vintage Car Show this Saturday, June 12th, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Edmonds United Methodist Church on Caspers Street. 

If you have a vintage car to show off, bring it, and register for $15, on site. 

If you don’t have a car to exhibit, then come--free--to admire other people’s cars and eat hot dogs and other good stuff, while taking chances on grand raffle prizes.

Can’t beat that for family entertainment.  (No one will object if you bring canned food donations for the Food Bank!)

Questions? Call Jim Thayer at 206-819-7737. (Oh, by the way, we’re planning on sunshine for the car show.)