Soup in Summer?

There's something seriously wrong with this picture.

I should not be craving soup in the summer.
I should not long to be secure in my kitchen, sauteing and simmering over the stove.
The aroma of fresh bread should not waft from my oven.
I should not need to lighten (and warm) the dining room with candles.

These are scenes from November, not late June.

But the temperature has dropped by nearly 20 degrees Celsius in only a few days. The sun has vanished and the rain reminds us, that no, Dorothy, we are not in Kansas anymore - we are, indeed, in Oz; a place of very strange happenings.

So while the Tin Man hopes for a heart, the Lion craves courage, and the Scarecrow covets a brain, this little girl yearns to go home.

Back in Maryland, it is summer in every sense of the word. The kids are out of school. Friends are on vacation at the beach. The daily dress code is swimsuits and sandals. The evening menu is salad and watermelon by the pool.

But here in NRW, I wore boots and a coat to teach class this morning, worked the rest of the day online as rain beat on my window pain, and for dinner, my daughter and I prepared a warm broccoli chicken curry soup, with extra hot peppers.

Which way to the yellow brick road?