Man, this has been one strange stretch of spring and summer.

It seems we’ve had rain in the air and on the ground for most of the past week. And with bunches of Fourth of July fireworks shows scheduled for Friday, looks like there’s the potential for yet more stormy, soupy weather.

I prefer cool summers, can tolerate bundles of rainy days and look forward to big thunderstorms. Sorry for all the suffering in the picnic, softball and agricultural circles. At least this extended spring has given me — and others — the chance to give air conditioners a vacation.

I can’t remember a July when my Sharp “library quiet” electronic ice box wasn’t frosting my bedroom to 60 degrees. My Albany headquarters is a 1915-era house, and for some reason, the hot air just settles in and sticks around on the second floor during hot spells. Funny how that doesn’t happen during the winter, when the warm stuff sneaks out through the roof and walls faster than you can say Reddy Kilowatt. My winter temps are always around 55 and, during warms stretches, 60.

I haven’t even plugged in the A.C. yet. People in my neighborhoods have also powered down, which is a fine bonus for the environment. Think of all that electricity we’re saving.

We might be blowing our power savings on gasoline. My lawn, often starved for moisture and fertilizer during July and August, is happier than a fat man at a Chinese buffet. It’s getting all the water it can handle, has already enjoyed its second helping of Turfbuilder and needs a trim just five days after Mr. Briggs and Mr. Stratton last visited.

The weather has also put a damper on some of my weekend cookouts in the back yard. Last Friday’s monster thunderstorm barged into my neighborhood so quickly, I didn’t have a chance to cover the old radio that serves as my connection to New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling. Once the all wet was all out, I found my radio flooded. Sterling was finished for the evening, drowned and short-circuited by 8 p.m., at least in my corner of Albany.

These big rains can’t be doing my tomatoes any good, either. For once, my nine plants are showing signs of real production ... think the key was avoiding new bags of manure and soil for my small plot, something I’ve done for years. My Jet Stars and Pic Reds are digging the old soil.

So pros include cool sleeping conditions at night, thunder and lightning galore and green days for the ecology.

Cons are tomatoes in trouble, Sterling washed out and more green days for Mr. Briggs and Mr. Stratton, and by extension, yours truly.

I guess so far, it’s a draw!