Shall we talk about the weather?

After living through the hottest July EVER in Zurich (since they started keeping records 140 years ago), I have been rewarded with chilly, rainy fall weather since the start of August.

Unlike many people here (those who actually like summer), I’m not complaining. It’s so nice to be able to leave the house between 11 and 5 without being attacked by oppressive sun and heat. It’s wonderful to be able to do light housework without sweating. And it’s downright fabulous to be able to walk through the grocery store without smelling the horrendous b.o. of your fellow shoppers (that used to linger in the aisles long after the offending shopper was gone).

My what-to-make-for-dinner choices just expanded greatly, now that it’s cool enough to use not only the stove, but even *gasp* the oven. I was even considering making fondue, but I should probably hold out for another month or two on that.

I took my first hot shower in months the other day, and it felt great. It reminded me how much I am looking forward to winter. But wait, isn’t it just the beginning of August? Shouldn’t the worst of summer still be in front of us? The forecast is calling for rainy and cool for the next couple weeks, at least. Sounds good to me!

We do, however, have a couple events planned for the end of August that actually require warm (if not hot) weather, as they involve swimming outside. I think I’m going to hold off on buying tickets for the Zürcher Limmatschwimmen (Limmat River Swim), just in case it ends up being too cold to enjoy. It was cancelled last year, due to high water, so we were really looking forward to getting to do it this year. For those who are interested, it will take place on August 26th, costs CHF 22 (CHF 27 the day of), and tickets can be purchased in advance here. [UPDATE 23-8-06: the Limmat River Swim has been cancelled due to the low water temperatures. Guess we’ll have to wait another year…]

So do I just be happy the heat wave is over, or do I hope for it to get warm again so we can do more swimming? This is a very important dilemma, as we all know I control the weather with my thoughts. What to do, what to do…