That string of six steamy 90-degree days back in late June got me thinking about cooler times. Though I'm not a big fan of winter, I am looking forward to the 2002 Winter Olympics which, believe it or not, will be underway just six months from today in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Geographically speaking, Salt Lake City is classified as a "high desert" - a dry climate at an elevation of 4200 feet. Annually, the city gets less than half the precipitation that we get, but that's mainly because they have dry summers. The lack of rain in summer is made up for in winter, when they average about 60 inches of snow. The skiing events will be held in the Wasatch Mountains, about a half-hour's drive east of the city, where average snowfall is several hundred inches per winter.

As a side note, the Olympic torch is scheduled to roll through Wilmington and Philadelphia three days before Christmas on its way to Salt Lake City. If you want to do a little Olympic preparation yourself, visit the official web site of the 2002 Winter Olympics at

www.SLC2002.org