Another Year Older and Another Summer in the Books

And just like that, summer is nearly over. It's been so dry, and the scattered rain showers fail to alleviate the severe drought we're experiencing. (I did check, and yes, they're referring to our area as being in a severe drought.) Normally, I'm the guy with a lush green lawn. I'm no longer that guy. According to online sources, four of our last five years have been abnormally dry. If this is going to be our new normal, I don't see the point in trying to keep up. 

We made our annual July trip to Duluth toward the end of last month for a quick getaway. We always enjoy our time up there. I especially love walking along the Lake Walk each morning before Tammy wakes up. The highlight of the trip for me was watching The Brothers Burn Mountain at Sir Benedict's Tavern on the Lake. I was captivated by their sound. Tammy also liked them, but not with the same enthusiasm. I've linked two videos of their songs below that I recorded. 

We were in Babbitt for Tammy's 50th high school reunion three weeks ago. Out of a class of around 150 students, about 60 classmates turned out. Considering they've lost 25 people from their class, that seems like a good turnout. 

Puppy Play & Stay has been a handy place for us to take Oscar and Rudy while we're away. Oscar gets so excited when we get ready to leave for the kennel. He spins his way to the back door. It's so cute! 

Probably the best news I have is that I'm speaking again with both siblings that I've been estranged from for years over politics. I wrote a while back about reaching out to them in what felt, then, like a last-ditch effort to salvage our dying bond. 

We're talking again, and for that I am grateful. 

Keith reached out to me to see if I'd like to golf with him on my 69th birthday. I'd already made plans with some friends, but we had an opening in our foursome. Keith was happy to join us for a round of golf at Southern Hills. That made my day. I've missed having both of them (my siblings) in my life. 

Tammy and I took the bus to the State Fair on opening day, where we were part of a record-breaking opening day crowd. We were surprised by how long the food lines were. Normally, we munch our way around the fair, but we found ourselves, more often than not, passing on some vendors because of the 20+ minute wait in line. Still, it was a nice time, as always. We joked that we probably left the fair with a calorie deficit, something we've never done!

We returned to the fair a couple of nights ago to experience the night vibe, with noticeably fewer people and no sun beating down on us. It's been a very hot week for the fair, with temps in the upper 80s and lower 90s (around 32ºc). We stopped by the GOP booth. I was wearing my ‘Resist Fascism’ t-shirt. The volunteers there laughed at the notion that the GOP has cozied up to the movement. We had a spirited 15-minute discussion before they asked us to leave. I was smiling as I watched Tammy go toe-to-toe with two Trump supporters who were accusing her of being a "crazy lady." She was making good points for which they had no reply other than name-calling. Later, we stopped by the DFL booth and chatted with a few volunteers. One of them said he listened to me debating an elected rep in the GOP booth (I can't recall his name). He thanked me for respectfully making good points. I didn’t realize people were listening in. 

Wild horses roaming vast prairies are seen as living emblems of the American frontier. They're such beautiful and powerful animals. And now, Trump's administration has targeted them for elimination as a cost-saving measure. 

If savings are what they're after, I can think of a host of expenses Trump has embarked on that should be abandoned: his ballroom; the triumphal arch; the $1 billion+ cost of refurbishing the jet illegally gifted by the government of Qatar to him; hundreds of millions of dollars spent on his golf outings at taxpayer expense, and his illegal war in Iran, to name just a few.

There is an extreme El Niño that is developing in the central and eastern Pacific along the equator. This article in The Guardian says it's "likely to be the largest in at least 1,000 years and will pile extra heat into an atmosphere where temperatures are already rising rapidly due to global heating." It's expected to trigger significant displacement and drive millions of people from their homes. Sadly and frustratingly, Trump has aggressively rolled back climate funding, canceled billions of dollars in grants, and cut electric vehicle (EV) tax credits, because apparently, our past is our future. Keep the oil pumping because while we're in the process of compromising our planet, people are getting rich, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters to these imbeciles. 

That's all I've got.