Beautiful days

Evanston RoundTable, Sept. 29, 2022

With fall at hand, it’s a good time to look back at and celebrate the last three months. And what a summer it was! Mild, clear, sunny, with little serious heat or humidity.

While the rest of the country has been suffering from drought, fires, heat waves, hurricanes, and dangerous air quality, the weather in the Midwest has been – is sublime too strong a word?

Here we are with what seems like the country’s most delightful climate, the largest body of fresh water lapping at our feet, the mildest days and pleasantest nights.

Climate superiority: if you’ve got it, flaunt it. I hate to admit I’m feeling a little smug, which I’ve rendered into rhyme:

The west coast is toast,

The east is least,

And the south is – well, the south.

So say it loud and say it proud:

The Midwest is surely the best!

OK, so it’s not Cole Porter or even Tom Lehrer. But it speaks from the heart.

Goofy as it is, there’s some truth in the doggerel verse, per this headline from last Sunday’s New York Times: “Our Grim New Reality on the West Coast: The air quality is so bad it isn’t safe to let kids leave the house.”

And the south and east coast face worsening hurricane seasons, per this prediction from Forbes: “After an active 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts an ‘above-average’ 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. NOAA predicts 14 to 21 named storms, including three to six major hurricanes.”

Or this prediction of an earlier hurricane season than usual for the east coast, “thanks to climate change.”

Here in Evanston we look forward to a lovely autumn, with crisp nights and pleasant days and the annual display of beautiful fall colors. And don’t forget those scrumptious Taffy Apples!

So go ahead, indulge your inner smugness. Sometimes the Midwest is the best!

(P.S. Come January, however, it might be preferable to be in La Jolla.)