Putting the brakes on .... screech, slide, stop summer from ending

Having just returned from the West Coast have to say California, especially So Cal, has really nice weather.  You know palm trees, pretty beaches with mountains, surfers ... all nice but I have about a 5 day tolerance for So Cal before all of that turns into - why oh why do they have to drive everywhere (I mean really, it's flat and the weather is nice walk people we do it in much harsher conditions on the East Coast)?? Why is everything a 45 min traffic ordeal when they have 6-7 lane highways in each direction (again walk people)?  Why don't they have public transportation ?  They are too slow, too mellow - but did I mention how pretty it is and how nice their weather is ?? 

You would assume a summer lover like me would love climate like that year round right?? I would like climate like that for more time than I get but I love the changing of the seasons - up to about Jan.  I could fast forward right through February and March right to April.  I do not enjoy the cold that takes forever to leave me or the snow - yeah, yeah it's pretty when it comes down -- NO it is not because what comes down must be shoveled, cleaned off cars and generally a nuisance.  

I do love the seasons changing though - when I lived in California years ago it was disconcerting to feel at times like it was one long day or one long month.  However, I always feel right after my birthday in the middle of July that summer slips away way too fast.  I want a few more weekends at the beach than I will get, a lot more long days into night and most of all I want to have it warm for a bit longer.   As a kid my birthday also signaled the fast approaching end of summer vacation - bad enough to have a summer birthday so no decorated locker at school, no fan fare in the hallways but just trying to scrape up whoever was around but to think that it also signaled the end of those wonderful, lazy months between school years was really a bummer and still is. 

I see the attraction to Cali - kind of like dating the Playmate of the year, very pretty, sexy but for the most part you do not want to commit to her.  It is beautiful and siren call of warm weather when some of us are trying to penguin walk with grace on black ice, doesn't every happen well - you either fall or you look like you are waddling , sand over snow and that promise of not having to hurry to your car (or anywhere for that matter regardless of season) appeals to so many.  It is the land of Hollywood and of those smiley folks (well maybe not in SF as much but even there more so than in many places).  Maybe it is cause I am madly in love with NYC and all it stands for, black snow and stinky sidewalks not so much but part of the deal, the idea of public transportation, love walking with the vast diversity rather than watching them in the lane over stuck in traffic on a highway, filled with possibilities of who you may meet.  Maybe it is because it slightly exciting to have something as good as summer and then yearn for it the rest of the time - you know kind of like that forbidden lover, the one whose kiss is so good you can close your eyes and feel the goosebumps from and when he actually does it wham .. ooh ..ummm - yeah that's how summer is to me.  Maybe it is like that for those who love Cali every day  - for me I like the thrill of the chase but we can stroll and not run to the finish line of summer for now.