Waiting for the Summer

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."
Author unknown, commonly misattributed to Mark Twain

This year you can easily replace San Francisco with Brussels. Seems like the Belgian capital has a lot in common with the city on the US west coast.

The sky is grey and so is the weather forecast for the rest of the week. Not exactly what one wishes for in the middle of July.  

While summer still keeps us waiting and we dream of pool parties, barbecues, sunny days in the parc and those magical long summer nights, these summery tunes will hopefully colour up your days until it's sunscreen time again:   

Metronomy: The Bay. Indisputable the song of summer 2011. No party that can do without the dancy sounds of the English hipster band. Also one of the best music videos in recent history - and more summer you can hardly fit into a clip.

 The Kinks: Sunny Afternoon (1966)

Help me, help me, help me sail away,
Well give me two good reasons why I oughta stay.
'Cause I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime

Weezer: Island in the Sun. The summer anthem from 2001 just never gets old. Admittedly not only selected for the summer but also for the cuteness factor.

If you still don't get the summer feeling: Stop complaining and take these rainy days as an excuse to buy those cool wellies you've always wanted. And it could be worse: The Norwegian city Bergen is blessed with around 265 days of rain a year.

One last thing to think about before you let the grey weather spoil your mood: 

"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy." Anton Chekhov