Don't say I didn't warn you

Today's piece of unsolicited advice: if you love spring, do not move to New England. I've lived here for 27 years now (aaak! how is that even possible?) and can tell you that winter takes forEVER to release its hold, then if you are lucky you get about a week (maybe just a couple of days) of "springtime" weather, and then BAM! Summer! It hurts, actually. Last week temperatures were just barely in the 60s (15, if my Fahrenheit/Celsius converter is to be believed) and yesterday -- whack! -- 87 (30c). I am unprepared in nearly every way. (Well, more fool me, I guess, having admitted to 27 years of this.) Out of habit, my first cuppa joe was a hot one this morning, but now my second (and final of the day, just for the record) is a tall iced number.

Summer means a lot of wonderful things -- don't get me wrong. Carnivals, mini-golf, ice cream, the beach, dinners on the deck (no one in America has a 'back porch' anymore -- it's a deck), gardening, bubbles, reading (Dean and I both tend to read more in the summer), vacation.

So yesterday I read that microwaves can cause permanent health damage because of the molecular changes they make on the foods you heat. My first frustration (is it yours, too?) -- who to believe? Is this a truth that's known but covered up (hello, trans fats!)? Is it speculation? Am I condemning my son to infertility by serving him corn that's been heated in the microwave? My reaction is that I want to unplug the thing and move it to the basement (I heated that first cup of coffee, by the way, on the stovetop and it didn't even take "forever"). I want to live for a while (the summer?) without it, see what that's like again, and do research in the meantime. I was late to the microwave game -- I did not want one. (I didn't used to eat meat, either.) My dad, who only meant well, was shocked, and I do mean shocked, that time he came up from Florida to visit us and found that we didn't have one ("honey, it will save you SO much time and effort!"). He insisted on taking us out and buying us one. And we got used to having it and have had one ever since. But is it worth the potential risk to keep it? I also want to finally clear out all the non-stick cookware we've got and go with stainless steel; we've been talking about it forever but now's the time. Does the change of season make YOU want to start over, too?