Staving off the late June summer doldrums

The past three weeks seems like a take from the Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.” Each day it seems the skies have been overcast, the temperature fairly mild and rain threatened to fall from the clouds. It all seemed like a never-ending pattern of gloominess.
Independence Day was no exception. That being said, the five of us at camp had enough waiting for Mother Nature to relent and allow the warm weather and sunshine break through. We all decided on the Fourth of July to make a go of it on the lake and have fun in spite of the weather.
I thought that meant we were going fishing. The other four took that as time to go tubing on the lake.
“They’re insane,” is all I muttered to myself as we piled into the boat and pulled away from the dock. Standing tall on the dock feeding rope out was Darren, anxiously awaiting to hop on to the Big Bertha inner tube and get towed around the lake. The other three in the boat had their swimsuits on. I was fully decked out in a sweatshirt, jeans and bad attitude.
Why waste our time freezing our butt off in the middle of this extended Maine spring when we could do some fishing? Granted the fishing the day before led to me catching a small white perch and everyone else casting for nothing, but still, it had to be better than tubing around on a cold summer day.
As Eric threw the throttle forward and doing his best to throw his own brother Darren off the tube, I began to realize maybe this wasn’t so bad. Darren was laughing hysterically — when he had a chance to breathe at least — and the two women in the back of the boat were both screaming for Eric to head to the big waves and wondered what their own turn had to offer.
For weeks I’ve heard TV and radio reports about seasonal depressions and disorders, when people get anything from a bad case of the blues to legitimate depression. It’s something I end up going through every year by February and March, where I just end up becoming irritable and down in the dumps about everyday life. I question why I do things, if it’s worth it and even why I get up some days. This spring was especially rough, but like every other year the blues went away when the sun came out.
I noticed Saturday those low feelings were coming back. I sat in the forward chair of the ski boat while my other friends were having fun and couldn’t bring myself to have a good time. I do my best to put on a smile and make it look like I’m alright, but it takes a lot out of me to do that. On top of it all, tubing was never my thing — seeing that I swim as well as a rock — so the idea of hoping on Big Bertha on a cold, overcast summer day was about the worst thing I could think of.
Something must have clicked on that last tour of the lake, because out of nowhere I told Eric to head for the dock so I could change and give it a go on the tube. The look on my face must have been something strange to see because even I couldn’t believe I said that.
It was the perfect medicine to the awful weather we’ve been having. It was sprinkling by the time I jumped on the raft, the air temperature was cold enough to give you a chill and the water spray made things worse. That being said, it was a blast. I couldn’t stop laughing the entire time.
Of course, my whole upper body was sore for two days after I held on to that raft with everything I had, but in the end it was worth it because for once I could laugh — and do so without forcing myself to have a good time.
I wasn’t the only one to shake the late June doldrums. Cities decided to host fireworks, people took to Fourth of July celebrations and others hosted barbecues in spite of the heavy rains and overcast skies, and it turned out great.
Maybe Mother Nature got the hint we’re all sick of what she’s been brewing for the past few weeks, because Sunday was a beautiful day outside. Granted the gray skies and rain returned, but there’s finally sunshine in the forecast for later in the week.
That’s good, because our summer is long overdue to begin.