Hotter than ...

The Fourth of July weekend is coming to a close. It finally has felt like summer around here with oppressive heat and humidity, followed by severe thunderstorms. Nothing wrong with that! Growing up, I knew an older guy who used to say, “well, now that the Fourth of July has passed, summer is almost over!” While this is somewhat of an exaggeration, there is some truth to it. As I headed out the door at 5 a.m. for my usual long/slow Sunday morning walk, it was darker than it has been. Yeah, we are losing about a minute of daylight each morning. It’s not much, but at that hour it is noticeable enough to take pause and realize that soon enough, I’ll be strapping on that damn headlamp.

Anyway. It’s still summer and we still have a lot of summer left to go. We spent the morning of the Fourth at the Hyde Park Fourth of July parade – a spectacular, truly American event. I’m extremely proud of my wife, who carried the flag as part of the Hudson Valley Alumni Corps. I was proud to be the “water boy” for the flag-carrying and drum-playing group as they marched down Route 9 in their sweaty uniforms. As I squirted their necks with cold water and handed out cold water bottles, I kept repeating my same stupid line: “Geez, it’s as hot as the Fourth of July out here!” Oh. Wait. It WAS the Fourth of July. It was barely funny the first time. After the 10^th time, it was annoying and stupid – sound familiar? I was also proud to wear this Veteran Zero shirt, in support of Marist professor Tommy Zurhellen. Tommy is a Gulf War veteran and leader of the VFW in Poughkeepsie. He’s currently walking across the country, trying to average 22 miles per day in honor and memory of the number of veterans on average who commit suicide every day, as well as raising awareness for veterans’ homelessness. We are proud to support his effort and wish him well as he slowly ambles his way back to Poughkeepsie.