As I'm writing this, the windows in my house are open. They've been open most of the summer. This is the best summer weather I've experienced since 1994. It's great. And that's pretty much all I want to say.

In addition to the pleasant climate, there's an economic bonus to this nice weather. Last month (June), we used less electricity (by a fair amount) than we've ever used while living at this house. It is true that we were out of town for 12 days, but we've been gone for eight or nine days before and our usage hasn't dropped this much.

After 12 summer days on the road, we arrived to find the temperature inside the house sitting at...76. The AC didn't come on the entire time we left (I'd set it for 83). The only electricity we used was for the fridge and the porch light (which is one of those compact fluorescent thingies).

As for that blessed summer of '94, that was the third summer after Mt. Pinatubo blew up in the Philippines, clouding the atmosphere with dust and lowering temperatures all over the planet. I happened to be living in Battle Creek, Mich., and the winter of 1993-94 had been frigid. The summer was gorgeous, highs in the 60s most days. I remember the temperature reached 70 on Labor Day, and I think that was the high for the summer. Wonderful stuff.

Three weeks later, I moved to Florida. Which ruined my chances for sustained nice summer weather.

Summer is not my favorite season. It is, in fact, my least favorite. My favorite season is autumn. Autumn in Durham, N.C. can last for three-and-a-half to (in a truly spectacular year) five months. It's not "eternal autumn" San Francisco, but when you can get days in the 50s, 60s or 70s from early September until, on occasion, January, I'd call that a good climate.

The problem with Durham is that it doesn't have a winter, which is my second favorite season. Winter in Durham is three gray months in the 40s with occasional rain. I'd rather have sun and 20s or 30s (like we get here inside the Beltway).

Spring is just a way-station between winter and summer. It holds little attraction for me, except that it isn't as hot as summer. That's a plus.

Summer in Durham usually starts at the end of April and blisters its way into early September. Bleah. Summer here inside the Beltway generally waits two or three weeks later, but by the end of May days in the upper 80s or 90s are de rigeur.

Not this year. We had a colder-than-average winter, and then when temperatures finally warmed up (around my birthday at the end of April), it rained. Every day. For almost six weeks.

Everyone in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast caught a fair chunk of this odd weather, but we thought it had flown away when temperatures hit triple digits (or close) in the middle of June. Summer was here. Life was about to suck.

But life doesn't suck. Temperatures of late haven't been that unusual (highs in the low 80s, rather than the high 80s), but the decided lack of humidity is stunning. When I scratch at my mosquito bites, dry lines appear on my skin. But 82 and low humidity is still pretty damned fine.

It's crazy. It's ludicrous. And I'll be really pissed if summer decides to show up. I like this weather, even if it makes going to the pool something of an arctic expedition. I've gotten used to keeping the windows open and being woken up by the birds--rather than the THUNK of the AC kicking in. I like wearing only two shirts a day, down from my usual four or five during a real summer. I like walking around in the sun without drenching everything in sight with my sweat.

I like this summer. It's a keeper.

Jon Worley understands that other parts of the country haven't been so lucky this summer. He just doesn't care.