Labor Day 2013

By Terry Orr

Traditionally, today means the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year tomorrow. The last three-day weekend of warm weather and family picnics and gatherings.  We are reminded that fall is coming and the end of daylight savings – Football season has just started and baseball is winding down – cooler days and nights lay ahead.

It is also a good time to reflect for the many blessings and good things in our lives and to refocus our energies of those things most important to us – health, family, self, and our individual goals in life.

Happy Labor Day!!

National Bikini Day 2013

By Terry Orr

It is Summer time – Oh Thank Havens – to be outdoors and to enjoy the warmer weather – participating in all sorts of activities: sports, camping, swimming, sun bathing, vacations, BBQing, and family gatherings. On this day is the celebration of Bikinis – one of the most popular things ever to come from Paris, France.

Bikinis, Speedos, and Thongs all have one thing in common – in absence of a ‘clothing optional beach – these become the next best things – and for many, the skimpier they are all the better.

So lets take a look at some of the 2013 new swim ware!

Enjoy your Summer and wear what ever type of bathing suit that makes you happy!

(Photos from Google)

Dog Days of Summer

(Google Image)

By Diane Forrest

I went outside the other day, and nearly melted away.  I checked the temperature, and it was 102 degrees!  My dad said that we were in the dog days of summer.  I have heard this expression many times, but never really knew what it meant.  I just assumed that it meant it was just dog gone hot outside!

(Google Image)

Actually it is a time period from July 3rd to August 11.  It is observed in the Mediterranean as the hottest part of the summer.  The name actually comes from the stars, specifically the conjunction of Sirius (the dog star) and the sun.    In the summer Sirius, the “dog star,” rises and sets with the sun. During late July Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. They named this period of time, from 20 days before the conjunction to 20 days after, “dog days” after the dog star.

(Google Image)

The Romans sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather.

Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies." according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813.

(Google Image)

In recent years, the phrase "Dog Days" or "Dog Days of Summer" have also found new meanings. The term has frequently been used in reference to the American stock market. Typically, summer is a very slow time for the stock market, and additionally, poorly performing stocks with little future potential are frequently known as "dogs".

(Google Image)

All I know is that the dog days of summer is a very hot time, and I just want to stay inside in my cool air conditioned house and sip on ice cold drinks or eat some ice cream.  During these Dog Days, stay inside if at all possible, and if you have to be outdoors, be sure to drink plenty of fluids, and have frequent rest periods.

(Google Image)

The Summer Solstice - 2012

(Google Image) 

By Terry Orr

Each year, the timing of the solstice depends on when the Sun reaches its farthest point north of the equator. This occurs annually on June 20 or June 21 in North America, depending on your time zone.

(Google Image) 

Wednesday June 20, 2012 at 7:08 p.m. EDT will mark this year's summer solstice, the exact time when the sun is the farthest north in the sky and directly above the Tropic of Cancer.

(Google Image) 

Even though the summer solstice is the longest day of the year and the first day of summer, it doesn't tend to be the warmest.

Air conditioning - great when it works ...

by Diane Forrest,

Yesterday, July 3, was Air Condition Appreciation Day.  While I only found this out yesterday, it was too late to write something about it but I said silently to myself....I really appreciate Air Condition!  I love electricity too!

Well...as luck would have it my Air Condition went out today, then I really started appreciating it!  I called my dad, for sympathy, but he never seems to muster enough to make me feel better.  He asked, well, did you call someone?  Is he nuts??? It’s July 4th!!!  I told him they would only charge me an arm, leg, some fingers and toes!  Why don't things break during normal business hours?  My stuff only breaks on nights or weekends, and usually about 5:30 Friday night, so I have to suffer all weekend long!

Luckily for me it’s a cool 90 degrees today, and I have ceiling fans on, and I usually keep my temperature around 68 degrees, and most of the lights off, so it’s not really that bad.  However, instead of freaking out during times like these, I prefer to imagine my fore fathers and mothers, and what they had to endure every day of their life.  I figure if they had to put up with it all the time, I should be able to make it a day or two without complaining.  Of course I don't know who got the worse end of the deal.  You see, they never had Air Condition, so they never knew what they were missing.  They had to deal with the heat day in and day out with nothing to do about it but complain.  I'm only guessing that they complained about the heat...even with a/c, we complain about it.  I think I have it bad, because I know what I’m missing, I know what it's like to be in a nice cool place and be comfortable all day long.  Even put on a light blanket at night if it’s too chilly!  They never had that luxury. 

At least these days I have the option of getting in my car, turning on the a/c and driving to a place where the Air Condition does work.  They never had that option.  I however will just sit here and try not to complain as I think about the generations before me and the trials they endured so that I may live the life I have today.  

I'll fix it for you...

So...today, the day after Air Condition Appreciation day, not only do I appreciate Air Condition, but all those who came before me who not only suffered in the heat, but made the invention of Air Condition possible for me!