Summertime Blues

After a 5-day heat wave last week, the Netherlands has returned to its somber, chilly self, dropping about 10 degrees C overnight. Still wavering over putting my winter's jacket in the back closet and exchanging it for something lighter, I ventured outside with it. It was luckily too heavy, but you never know around here... The best thing I've learned from living in such a cold, inhospitable country (Ok, I'm making it sound like Siberia, but to hell with it, I'm a thin-skinned Californian at heart) is to take advantage of every last moment of sunshine. Like the Dutch, I now drop all my work, take an immediate break from the routine, and rush out to soak it up off the pavement like a warmth-deprived iguana. I totally get it now: live in the moment.