Letter to the Editor: A Summer That Smells Like Wet Dogs

To the Editor:

It’s been a pretty good summer so far. There have not been too many really hot days and there’s been little rain. I guess that’s why Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were so disappointing.

Sure, we’ve had rain this summer, and even had a couple of concerts cancelled, but it's been a long time since it has rained three days straight. There were about eight hours of almost clear skies Monday, and the full moon peeked out, but by midnight the downpours were back. It rained so hard and long that streets in town were flooded.

I didn’t venture out, even when I started to get “cabin fever,” but, luckily, during one lull, I managed to escape to a concert. That helped me keep what was left of my sanity.

Long periods of rain are especially depressing late in the summer when its end is looming near. Somehow, in June, rain makes you think of crops needing the water and flowers blooming. But rain in August just means lost days. Too soon it will be Labor Day and the pools will close and the lifeguards will go back to school.

The days are already noticeably shorter. The dog days of summer are here, but nobody likes the smell of a wet dog.

Vincent C. Civello
Long Beach