John's nemesis or community builder? You be the judge.

I don’t make this sort of a statement lightly. I know co-editor John Horn harbors some ill will towards the sun, and I believe he has reason to feel that way.

But in recent summer weeks, I’ve been surprised by the amount of community the sun’s managed to build, just by being so damn hot. You see dear readers, I, like many of my friends, live in an apartment that’s on the second floor. In the morning the sun heats our tiny little home like a mischievous kid heats up ants.

The heat makes you break a sweat while sitting at you computer. It makes you feel like you’re melting like the wicked witch of the West when you cook with the oven. Its all the more tormenting to Vancouverites, whose body temperature has been carefully refined by countless months of cool and cold rain. We are not used to the hot vibes habitual in Sunmagetton like many Torontoites.

So what do we do? Well, like millions of others around the world, we head outside, to the beach or my personal favorite to our neighbourhood umbrella shielded patio –  where a cold pints or ice-coffee awaits. In recent months, the patios of many of the Drive’s watering holes have swelled with people and its neat to see. Havanas, Stellas, and the Zawas never looked so packed. Meanwhile, across town in Kitsilano its easy to see the throngs of people taking in the evening air at premier spots like Las Margaritas or Malones. Nothing like patio life to create a collective sense of community and interconnectedness don’t you think? It is certainly something the Europeans have down pat and something many people look forward to enjoying each time they visit the continent. With the sun’s help perhaps we’ll slowly but surely recreate that atmosphere – at least in the summer months.

Nothing like patio life link dozens of people together and create a positive buzz in an otherwise rainy city. For that buzz (though not for the accompanying discomfort), I thank you dear sun. But I will let John Horn have the last word on this subject if he should so choose.