Summer Has Arrived in the South

Sandra Robbins here reporting from Tennessee where the temperature is over 100 degrees.

This last week my family and I traveled to Long Island to attend the college graduation of my grandson who received a degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. The weather on Long Island Sound was perfect, but it wasn't that way when we exited the Nashville airport on our return home.

Summer has swooped into the south, and temperatures are hitting the 100 mark. The heat index makes it seem even hotter. Now I'm longing for those cold days of winter when I couldn't wait for warmer weather to get here.

Isn't it strange how we humans are never satisfied? It it's hot, we want cold. If it's too rainy, we grumble, then become upset when the rains don't fall. I have to admit that I even wished for snow when I was a teacher so that we could get a day off from school, but I complained when a huge snowfall kept us out of school for days. That meant we'd have to go longer in the spring before school was dismissed for summer vacation.

I know that no one can do anything to change the weather, but I still find myself complaining when a change in temperature makes me uncomfortable. I wonder what God must think about us as He listens to us grumbling when we should be so thankful for the beautiful creation He's given us to inhabit.

The four seasons each give us something special to look forward to. Fall brings brilliant colors and cooler temperatures, winter gives us cold days and snow covered landscapes, and spring is an awakening of life that's been dormant for three months.

But what does summer bring us beside hot days? Some of the things it brings are fresh vegetables, cookouts, walking barefoot in the green grass, blooming flowers, and picnics. I'm going to remember that the next time I complain about the heat.