“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.”
~ Gertrude Jekyll, British horticulturist, garden designer, artist, and writer

Monday was the starting point for the summer season; i.e., the “unofficial first day of summer.” If not for the calendar, I could have easily believed it to be the truth. While I was getting the backyard ready for our Memorial Day gathering, I was surrounded by signs of summer, whether actual or impending.

Warm and clear day – check. Roses abloom – check. The smell of barbecues ¬– check. Adding more chlorine and algaecide to the pool – check.

Perhaps at the top of the “signs of summer” list should read: high-pitched and happy shrieks of children, splashing water and shouting “Marco Polo.”

Face it; you have to be a kid, love a kid or be a genuine good sport to enjoy the “Marco” … “Polo” exchange heard throughout the foothills during long hot summers. Most kids know Marco Polo as just a game; after all, it’s summer – time for fun, not a history lesson!

But how did the name of a 14th-century Venetian explorer become a 20th-century swimming pool game? It seems a young Marco Polo was lulled to sleep astride his horse while traveling over the Silk Road to China. In doing so, he became lost. His family shouted “Marco” over and over again. At last he responded with “Polo” and was found.

Fact or fiction? We will never know for certain. Perhaps, “Livres des merveilles du monde” (“Book of the Marvels of the World,” also known as “The Travels of Marco Polo,” c. 1300) would make for a good summer read.

Cool drizzly weather continues today. Once again, the weekend forecast calls for above normal temperatures and less overcast. Come the first days of next week, the overnight marine layer is expected to move back in, bringing much cooler temperatures. As June arrives so does its days of gloom!

I can promise they will pass, only too quickly, before the heat of summer arrives!

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley resident and Official Skywarn Spotter for the National Weather Service. Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick