One time, my mother told me a story about Seattle weather: when she first came to the United States and attended community college, she observed how the weather changed suddenly, not to mention that it rained a lot. The professor just mentioned, “Welcome to Seattle.” To this day, she still wonders about this, and even commented how, for nine months, Seattle is mostly “winter,” with its gray clouds and rain, and only three months of “summer."

Recently, I’ve observed a lot of these weather changes. During high school, it hailed, and then it was windy, before showing off some sun. My dad commented as “four seasons in one day.” And just recently, it happened again: it rained heavily one afternoon, and suddenly hailed a few seconds later. When I was at the library, I noticed the golden sun coming from the western window, surprising because of the darkened clouds early.

However, the changing weather patterns in Seattle is also something I I would sometimes forget: during my freshman year, I walked back to my dorm, and suddenly, it was raining. I was wearing a denim jacket because I thought it would be just cloudy. One person said that I shouldn’t have forgot...because this was Seattle.

And as I am writing this, the temperatures are hitting around 90 degrees, and to be honest, I like the weather, but this is the upper limits to being tolerable.

Yet two summers ago, visited New York City and Washington D.C. Both cities were nice to visit, but were just as hot, if not hotter, than Seattle is right now. Every day, I remember not only the pretty blue skies and blazing sunlight, but also the sticky humidity on my skin, and how it felt dragging myself, along with the family, through this. Fortunately, at night, the hotels were relatively air-conditioned, so I wouldn’t struggle with sleeping under blankets while hoping for ice all around me. I wasn’t looking forward to winter in those moments, but I know there’s a contrast between northeast summers and Seattle’s, which are milder. Though when it’s hot, it truly is cumbersome, even with a lemonade on the side.

After last fall’s exams, I went to Golden Gardens. It was dingy and gray, and extremely cold. When I tried to put my feet into the water, it was so freezing, I had to put my shoes back on. The rest of the experience wasn’t at all comfortable.

When I go back during the summer, it will be different. It will not only be significantly warmer, but also the skies will be a rich shade of azure; underneath it people will play volleyball during the day and sing around bonfires at night.

In those moments, it’s hard to remember that Seattle set another record on how wet it was, or that it snowed significantly for the first time in five years, leaving a bunch of school cancellations as a result. It’s hard to remember that for most of the year; even through spring, it lays under clouds of gray, sometimes impenetrable.

At the end of the day, I say cherish these few months because of that reason. There will be a day six months from now which the heat will be missed.