When I think about the weather, two sayings come immediately to mind. Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. And, if you don’t like the weather in Chicago, wait a minute.

I’ve been thinking about the summer weather in Chicago a lot lately. Mainly, because no one has really complained about it lately.

I think about this lack of commentary because the last two winters people have really complained about how cold and snowy Chicago has been. People said they have never seen such a frigid winter before or so much snow before. But I remember Chicago winters as cold and snowy. Then, suddenly, winters warmed up somewhat and everyone forgot about the bitter, cold Chicago winters. Or they weren’t born yet. Otherwise, they would think of our last two winters as average.

Surprisingly, no one seems to comment on the severe thunderstorms we’ve had lately. I’ve lived in Chicago some fifty years now and I can honestly say I have never seen thunderstorms as severe as the ones we’ve had in the last few weeks. Sure, I’ve slept through most of them, but when I wake up, I see my flooded backyard and downed trees everywhere in my neighborhood when I go running. Yet, no one mentions how bad these storms have been.