Spring in Abu Dhabi

Ah....spring!
From the smell of fresh-cut grass to the feeling of sunshine on bare skin, spring is a season that is always a favorite.  Baseball practice has started, summer vacations are being planned, flowers have been planted and the knowledge that your winter jacket has been put away until next year is beyond exciting. I think most of us would agree that spring weather is awesome.
Well, maybe not in Abu Dhabi.
As friends and family back home begin to plant gardens and plan bar-b-ques, those of us living in Abu Dhabi are starting to retreat back indoors.  After six months of beautiful, spring-like weather, things are heating up in the Gulf.  Yesterday, after I dropped everyone off at school, I took George out for our morning run at the beach. Though it was only 8:30 in the morning, it was already 85 degrees.  Funny thing is, I was actually thankful that it wasn't hotter.  After living here for 4 years, I know what's coming.
Abu Dhabi is an amazing place to live, and the weather is one of the perks...for most of the year, that is.  By May, being outdoors in the middle of the day starts getting kind of dicey, and by July, you avoid it at all costs.  A typical summer day will average around 110 degrees and that doesn't factor in the humidity!  
Fortunately for me (and many people who live here) the heat is tolerated by going home for the summer months. Once the kids get out of school, we'll head back to the States, to see family and friends and enjoy some baseball games, cookouts and the smell of fresh cut grass. When we return to Abu Dhabi in late August, the weather will still be pretty unbearable, but at least we'll know what's coming.  
Ah...Winter!