We live on the water, or more specifically, the ocean.  We were lucky enough to have found a waterfront parcel 55 years ago, before it became the most sought-after land in Maine and real estate prices skyrocketed, making it cost-prohibitive for many folks.

Besides the obvious benefits, such as a view and our own access to the water, there is another tremendous advantage — cool ocean breezes on a hot day. Which brings us to another important point: Summer breezes aren’t always a plus.

We’ve been waiting all spring, as have most of you, for a day which could be termed hot, i.e. warm enough to remain outdoors for an extended period of time without needing a sweater or jacket. As we write this column Sunday, the weatherman is promising temperatures hovering near 90 degrees in some parts of the state today.  Guess what?  The thermometer hadn’t climbed above the low sixties on our shaded side deck by late morning and there was a strong southerly breeze all afternoon, leaving us on the cool side. Portland, Lewiston and Augusta reached ninety or thereabouts, but not here directly on the bay or in some other coastal communities.

It’s not that we like hot weather. We don’t. Sure, we envy some of our friends who spend the winter in Florida when it’s snowing or ten degrees here and they tell us their thermometer reads 80 and they’re headed for the golf course or the beach. However, we don’t really want to change places with them (at least for more than a couple of days).  If we did, we’d probably pack up the car and hit I-95 South right after Christmas.

Granted, we all have to appreciate the cool summer breezes here on the ocean this time of the year. That’s what brings our summer visitors, escaping from the heat in Chicago, New York or Boston. They’re in heaven when they near the Maine coast and feel the cool air on their face.

We understand that, but there are days when we openly admit we’re a bit jealous of Maine’s inland temperatures, often ten or more degrees higher than here. (Of course, come winter, warming ocean breezes keep us warmer than inland communities, and help hold down our snowfall amounts.)

We can’t tell you how many times in the past couple of weeks we’ve gone out on our deck to soak up the sun, only to find the chill in the air drove us inside.  We’ve been anxious to try out our new grill acquired last fall when our 15-year-old model finally succumbed to the salt air and fell apart.However, it seems somehow sacrilegious to cook outside if you’re not going to eat outside.Part of the fun of burgers on the grill is sitting on the deck and enjoying the view while eating them. We’re stubborn. We’ll just wait until we get a really warm day to turn on the grill.

In the meantime, we’ll try to stop complaining about cool ocean breezes and thank heaven we don’t live in the desert where temperatures frequently hit 100 degrees. That would be enough to make us appreciate what we have, don’t you think?