Mid Summer observations

Traditionally I think August has been considered the month where folks go away for the month. July too, of course, but I think it was August that usually saw it. That might have been changed in the last generation with the fact that schools now start well before Labor Day in some cases and certainly in ours.

So July is the on the go month and my blog has suffered from it. We are home now and with full technological power so I wanted to make a few observations, a very wide ranging list from the month.

It really is true that no matter the weather there will be a good majority of people complaining about it. The last two weeks has seen a heat wave back most of the country. 97 in Bangor itself last week and several days over 90. Then for us in Maine even if we accept the warmer weather we do so begrudgingly with a note that soon it will be snowing. I for one will never complain about the heat. I love it. In fact yesterday morning when I woke up to take the dog out and play with him and per usual did not put on a shirt the wind shift was noticable on my skin with a much cooler air mass.

We are told the heat will build back in this week but as I write this today it is about 80, sunny and breezy and might be as close as those people who say they would like it if it was 72 degrees everyday of the year. Lucky for them we have a place like that, it is called indoors.

With the loss of ozone we are told the sun is bad for us and I am sure that is true, still is there anything that feels so good as a few minutes in just shorts soaking in the sun. With my significant Vitamin D defiency and the thought that it might help my condition I have made a habit of 20 minutes of sun a day. I am tan on my front at least. I do not know if it helps my aches but for a few minutes I sweat anyway. That is as close to physical exertion as I get these days.

Kids are active today but it is all managed and scheduled for the most part. We as parents are as in most things conflicted. We want our kids to have the lives we had as kids, which we remember as endless summers of unscheduled bliss. However I wonder if much of that summer was asking each other what we wanted to do. I am just on the cusp of technology. We had no internet of course, but no cable TV as we lived too far out, no cell phones. Our lives were simpler. Better I do not know but simpler.

My son has soccer in the morning, basketball in the afternoon and baseball in the evening this summer. That is a busy day. Without those scheduled games and practices though I am not sure if he could get out of his own way.

Speaking of cell phones. We think that we are better parents for giving our kids cell phones so that they are safer and can call us. While in extremee cases that is true in most csses it just makes us more neverous and on both sides of the relationship expect instant gratification. Do we really need to know if they go from point A to point B when they are 16. The fact that most will say yes shows how times have changed. Still I too want that information. If you think we are bad try waiting 5 minutes to respond the next time your child texts you with some small piece of information or request. They are ten times worse than us in what they expect.

Spent the better part of two weeks at the lake. Hope to get back there in Auguest as well. I am not sure if there is anything more peaceful than the full moon on the lake. Coming up over the mountain it is a wondrous site. I was very sick for the first two thirds of our stay but felt a bit better the last of it. Still, feeling poorly it was nicer to be sick there than at home.

Saw some raccoons in the daylight that seemed quite unafraid of people and dogs. Our dog fixed that but we had a long staring contest. I do not think I had ever seen a raccoon that close.

Thi summer we have added a deck and fixed a leaky roof. It hurts to spend money but feels good to cross things off the list.

The race for the Presidency is heating up. I think there are republican cadidates in the teens. I am not an Obama fan but imagine he will be relected. Still no candidate seems to be a good one.

The debt celing debate is indicative of what is exactly wrong with our country. The Tea party faithful purport to hate governemnt spending and want cuts but they are funded by rich folks like the billionare Koch brothers because of their no new new taxes rheotoric. 90 percent of Tea Partiers would not be affected by any tax increases but so many on the right they are manipulated by those who would be.

Today as the deadline approaches we hear of Senator Reid floating an idea that has no revenue increaes and some cuts. If you told your child no repeatedly only to eventually give him what he wanted at the last minute before say your in laws show up will you be teaching him to behave. You will not and if Obama was going to cave waiting to the last minute will be even worse. Sooner or later as Slaid Cleaves you have to act like you have a pair.

We purchased a new vehicle last week. It was an exercise. All different kinds of salesman. They all will try a different tact. In the end we got the vehicle we wanted at a price that was too much, but seemed to be in line. Needing three rows and wanting 4wd and not wanting a car feel we had limited options but I was pleased. The sales staff tried to rip us off and it made me wonder if anyone does not negotiate, takes anything close to the first price and how badly they get ripped off. It is not a process for the faint hearted.

For me routine makes life better. I have developed quite a few this summer that seem to be working. I take all my meds at the same time now and am doing a good job taking them. This may not seem like much but it is an improvement. My Ipad as allowed me to set up icons for all my sites I check. I can methodically check them. The dog and I go out to start each day and play and we play several times a day outside. He loves fetch and I love to be needed as strange as it sounds.

Baseball is such a part of our daily lives as a fan here in Maine. It is hard to believe we are into August almost and the season is winding down.

Bath salts, monkey dust whatever it is it seems to be approaching crisis stage in Bangor. Interestingly thus far it appears most users are older. Could it be possible that teens are too smart for this. Maybe the closer proximity you have to biology class the more you realize how stupid this stuff is.