Lena Horne's album "Stormy Weather"
Summer is half over, but it feels like it never got started. It’s supposed to be the vacation season; a time to get outdoors and relax. We’ve had heat and summer thunderstorms, but we’re certainly not relaxed.
The world news seems to get worse every day. I’m still angry about all those years that Exxon lied to us. We read about inflation and recession in the same sentence. We don’t know which way to turn. Turkey sold drones to Ukraine, but now it may be selling them to Iran. The Supreme Court decision on abortion has sparked a nation-wide series of protests and demonstrations. It feels like Vietnam all over again.
We not only don’t have solutions to a lot of our problems, sometimes we don’t even ask the right questions. Science is based upon a valid hypothesis. A lot of times we’re just guessing. Yes, the Climate Crisis is real and no longer open to debate. But finding the political will to do something about it is even more difficult than addressing gun violence. After four years of political chaos, we need time just to stabilize the public debate and learn how to communicate with each other. All the shouting gets media attention, but does it lead to any solutions?
Our swimming pool was a month late opening, and since then it hasn’t been properly maintained by the new ownership. I’m being treated with aquatic physical therapy that serves as a substitute. Swimming always has been one of the greatest pleasures of summertime for me. Even as a kid, I loved the pool. I’ve never lived close enough to the ocean to have the opportunity to enjoy it. A few days at the beach doesn’t suffice. It usually rains anyway.
I went to one outdoor concert, but I skipped the NC Symphony Summerfest series. The NC Museum of Art had to cancel some of their concerts because of stormy weather. We still have three large tree branches scattered around the complex. A house on nearby Athens Drive still has two large trees leaning on the roof from a storm a month ago. I might wish to hear Lena Horne again, but nobody would know who she was.
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