I know this will probably sound strange to most of you out there, but summer is my least favorite season. Without a doubt…I dislike summer. For those of you who do not live in Florida, let me explain. Summer is rainy season here…also, it happens to be hurricane season. It rains almost every day here. You can set your clock to it for the most part. For the past few weeks, I swear that it has rained almost every single day. Today is no exception. Right now I’m listening to a torrential downpour outside, along with thunder and lightning.
To make things even worse, we’ve discovered that Lucia is absolutely terrified of storms. As soon as I step foot in the house, she attaches herself to my side, quivering in fear. She even takes it so far as to break the usual rules. She isn’t allowed up on the couch, but she hops up beside me if there is a storm. I don’t know how to say no to her when she is shaking in fear like she does. And – two nights ago she broke an even bigger rule: she came into our bedroom. There was a storm going on around 4am on Tuesday morning, and I woke up to the sound of panting beside my head. I looked over to see our Aussie, shaking and whining by the side of our bed. What…the…heck! She knows she isn’t allowed into our bedroom – she never crosses the threshold of our room…it’s like there is an invisible forcefield on it. Apparently she is able to break that barrier when she’s scared though! Thankfully, half of a Benadryl seems to calm her down in these circumstances. I just wish she wasn’t so scared in the first place!
Anyway, enough of my babbling…in honor of all the wet weather, I thought I’d share a couple of cute creatures from the sea. Awww – sea cows (aka manatees): aren’t they so blubbery and cute?
I think this little lion fish shares my dislike for the rainy weather…
GRRRR! I hate rain!
Are you a fain of stormy skies? How’s the summer weather near you?
I like stormy skies, but purely for photographic purposes. There is nothing more beautiful than an impending storm, crazy clouds and lightening. But, when I’m walking to/from work, the last thing I want is some rain. So I guess it really depends on where I am, what I’m feeling and where I’m going!
Totally agree! I don’t mind them when they’re late afternoon/evening: makes it fun to snuggle up and watch a scary movie on the couch…and I love going to sleep with the rain outside. But if I have to do my hair/makeup/go to work in it…grrrr
I looove thunderstorms, but recently (the past few months) Wrigley has become TERRIFIED too! He never used to be scared, but now every time there’s thunder, he crosses his boundaries and goes into one of our bathrooms to hide! Our dogs are also not allowed in the bedrooms/bathrooms and don’t cross the line. But when there’s thunder? Wrigley will go so far as to climb in the shower and sit there, panting and shaking.
I’m not sure what to do about it either. I don’t want to encourage his stress by petting him because I want him to be able to deal with it on his own in case we’re not home. If you come up with a solution, let me know because I’m dying to hear it! I wish Zoe could just talk some sense into him, because she isn’t phased at all!
I’m seriously considering a Thunder Shirt for her – have you heard of/seen those before? http://www.thundershirt.com/ The pressure of the shirt is supposed to have a calming effect on them…
I love thunderstorms but only on weekdays 😉 But here in MD it has barely rained all summer. I can’t remember the last time… maybe sometime overnight, but barely noticable. I’ve loved ever second of this hot balmy summer though because I get cold so easy and have spent my whole life having 9 months of winter, so I like the swap of more warm than cold here in DC. I am not wishing summer away yet!
I’ve been to Florida when it’s rained for an entire week and that has not been fun, so i understand what you mean. I was terrified of driving in it and pulled over to wait for it to end, and it took 3 hours to stop! Luckily I found a Target 😉
Ugh – on my way home yesterday I almost had to pull over – I could only see a few inches in front of me. It was terrifying!
Can you please send the rain to Texas? We are in a MAJOR drought! Rain sounds so glorious to me right now.
Ha! You may not like the rain in Florida but I have to say, I am thankful for it. You see, I work for a company that makes filters that clean stormwater (aka rainwater that washes off the road) and we are doing a test in Florida to test one of our products! It rains so much we are able to do our test faster than in other parts of the country!
Ok, well in your case I’d definitely say the rain is awesome! 🙂
We had some CRAZY rain here in NYC yesterday, but it’s bright and sunny today! Go figure.
Poor Lucia. One of my parens dogs is the same way, and unfortunatly it has only gotten worse with age. You would think we left her out in the middle of a huge hurricane, they have no idea where her fear came from, but if it raining she glues herself to your side and does not stop panting.
Gorge photos of the fishies!
I too hate summer. Like I REALLY hate it – always have. It is so damn hot here (day 56 of over 100 degrees – yay texas) that you can’t really do anything but sit inside in a/c and FORGET about dressing cute. Ugh. So ready for fall.
I don’t mind summer rain if it’s a brief shower to cool everything down. But heavy rains everyday would get on my nerves too!
Also, yay, manatees!
Aha! I thought you’d like them 😉
You forgot to mention the raging sauna that is the outside after a storm haha
You’re right – I DID forget to mention that. Ughhhh
I swam with the manatees in Feb when we visited Florida. You are so lucky to leave near these creatures.
I’m with Kelsey, please please please please send the rain to Texas!
I love Florida summers – and I live inland where the humidity is worse and we have no beach to relax at, so I must really be crazy. I love strong storms (are dogs are thankfully not affected by the sounds or drop in pressure) and I really enjoy the daily rains cooling everything off. We need the rain here in Florida really bad so I’d prefer that then the fires we can get if the rains come too late!
Sorry you don’t enjoy this weather, its one of my favorite things about being a Floridian!
*our dogs are thankfully not affected!
I actually read somewhere that dogs are often trained by their owners to react the way they do in storms. So if shes reacting to the pressure – try one of those jacket things (I’ve read great reviews) but if its just to noise, you should be able to train her to stop freaking out. Good luck with that one though!
Wow -I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of someone enjoying the really humid weather! You are definitely living in the right place then. 🙂 I don’t so much mind the storms when I’m at home and can just listen to them rumbling…but when I have to drive to work/get dressed up/etc, I’m not a fan (driving in tons of rain = danger!).
Ugh, I’d LOVE some of that rain! We haven’t had any in months!