Summer Blues Hits Home for Author

By Cal Orey

Off season, during summer this
 beach
is off limits due to wayward dogs 
with a bone to pick

In two days, summer will arrive. This morning I decided to skip my swim at the resort pool (due to tourists) and I sit here trying to troubleshoot how I'm going to deal for the next three months. I did a quick online search for tips and didn't come up with anything I can use except that I now know I'm hardly alone with my summer blues...

Imagine this scenario: The streets are jammed with traffic and accidents seem more common. Sirens are heard more frequently due to more problems. Wayward off-leash dogs make it an obstacle course to walk my two canines. Fourth of July is a intense night that I must desensitize my critters and act like the noise factor of fireworks and concerts is normal. 

Vacant vacation homes which are now are filled with people and cars--making you feel like a stressed out fish in an aquarium. The resort pool you love is no longer yours to enjoy even if you arrive at 7:00 AM...because you will be greeted by dozens of kids jumping off rocks onto your head while their parents are oblivious while you try to swim laps. 

Goodbye until fall

Need to escape in mind and body

Living in a popular tourist town like Lake Tahoe is a challenge. 
Your stores are now filled with people of all ages who are excited, loud, and take over the aisles you once liked. The yellow pollen (nah, it's not the tourists' fault but maybe the trees are rebelling?) is dropping on the deck and dust is everywhere indoors and outdoors. And so it goes...

Signings better in the summer?

Ironically, I used to be a summer girl--letting my hair down and wearing flip flops. I love to get golden brown, swim, walk the dogs without slipping on black ice, enjoy cactus and Boston ferns on the deck and watering the landscaped trees, looking at the vibrant colored wildflowers everywhere, savoring clean food (fresh summer fruits and vegetables), drinking iced tea, wearing cut off jeans to sleeveless tank dresses--but it's different now. 
The season is changing and I feel it in the air. Instead of wishing I could fast forward the channel of life to fall in a resort town, I've come up with a working list to deal.

New swimming hole during lap swim time

Tips for Surviving Summer Tourists

* Go to grocery store early in the morning to avoid crowds: stock up on water, staples before gone
* Swim laps at the outdoor pool for locals
* Purchase ear plugs, turn up white noise
* Allow my dog duo to bark when tourists are too loud, too late, too loud
* Use the outdoor blinds and indoors blackout shades to black out invaders
* Do not write articles/books (only edit and proof) on weekends for sanity's sake
* Walk dogs but be on guard: have cell, digital camera for proof of a surprise canine attack

Brainstorming Summer Getaway

* Do food shopping days before Fourth of July and Labor Day Weekend

Going back to PNW to Escape Summer Blues

* Get Disaster Preparedness kits ready in case a wildfire happens and be ready to evacuate in a cool manner like during the June Angora Fire
* Make dental and vet appointments weeks in advance
* Shop online to avoid swirl cookie lines
* Adopt mantra: Autumn and Temporary
* Realize this invasion will pass within 90 days; weekdays will be almost doable
* Remember living and loving pre-fall and autumn off season in a beautiful resort town will be the reward
* Plan to flee in August: book signings in other locales and/or going back to Canada and become a tourist
* If you can't beat them, join them? That works for me. I have some saved flight miles... 

UPDATE: I broke the New Rules: Note to self: Never ever go to store after noon! It was a zoo. Tourist Intense City. Fantasizing about moving...rural, rural, rural. Extrovert has turned introvert--except when I'm a tourist.