Anyone else here quietly hate Seattle summers?

I have lived in this city for almost eleven years and I think I finally have to admit something out loud. I do not actually like the summers here.

Everyone talks about Seattle summers like they are the reward for surviving the gray months, and I get the pitch. The mountains come out, the water is everywhere, patios everywhere, 9pm sunsets, all of it. But every June I feel this pressure to be Doing Summer, and by mid August I am exhausted and low key relieved when the mornings start getting foggy again.

The gray winter is when I feel most like myself. I like reading in a coffee shop while it dumps rain outside. I like the excuse to stay in and cook something that takes four hours. I like walking around Greenlake in a puffy jacket when its half empty. Winter here is soft and slow and nobody expects anything from you.

Summer feels like a group project. Someones cousin is in from out of town and wants to do the Space Needle. Theres a rooftop thing you feel weird skipping. My list of places I want to try has been sitting at like thirty spots since May because every weekend gets eaten by hikes or weddings or people asking if I want to “grab the ferry over to Bainbridge real quick.” I love these people. I am also so tired.

The part I feel guilty about is that when its 82 and gorgeous and I am inside with the blinds pulled reading, I know somewhere theres a transplant on their first summer here posting about how this is the most beautiful place on earth, and they are right, and I still just want it to be November.

Am I broken? Is there anyone else here who quietly prefers the dark half of the year, or do I need to go touch grass (specifically, sunlit grass).