Summer

I Forgot How Awful Winters Are and How Delightful Summers Are

There are some pretty hot and sticky days in the summer in Upstate New York. Some days in the are dog-gone hot, sticky, and pretty miserable, if you have to work outdoors or spend any significant time outdoors.

Across Cheney Pond

The reality is even on the hottest days, it really isn’t that bad in the shade, especially not out in the country or in the Adirondacks — or as soon as the sunsets.

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Especially not compared to those bleak, long winters.

Catskills

I really like summer.

Labor Day

Today is Labor Day, the day we celebrate the many works done by organised labor, from the great construction projects of our day, to the people who clean the floors in the offices, to the people who work at the grocery stores.

Most people either get Labor Day off as a paid holiday or are compensated extra for working on Labor Day. Regardless, it’s a day to celebrate their labor and to celebrate ours. We all do productive things to make our world a better place, even if we can’t always see the important role of our own person actions in the grand scheme of things.

Picnic Tables at Alder Pond

Enjoy your holiday, be safe, and look forward to getting back to work tomorrow.

Memorial Day

Today is the day that we remember all of the people who have given their lives for our country, along with all of those who are fighting oversees. It is a beautiful day, but also a sad day as more and more people are dying overseas for a questionable causes.

Like most Americans, I am proud of the work our fighting professionals are doing overseas. That is their job, their vocation. Yet, there is such a sadness and something missing back home here in America, particularly in the rural areas across our country. It is well known that a larger percentage of rural people go to fight for our country, as an opportunity and hope, only to come back home dead.

Mill Brook Range in the Morning

I hope that they all come back home alive. I know that’s not a realistic hope, and I fear for what so many of our communities are losing. Really good, really brave men go overseas to fight for our freedom, and leave our many communities behind. You simply can not say enough good about all the veterans and fighting men who put it all on the line.

Maybe by next year, things will be different as we will be celebrating our success in Iraq, and also have our men and women back home. Maybe next year, things will be just a little bit brighter, and our fighting men will be back here doing everything from building roads to protecting our homeland from the risk of terrorists.

Flag on Tower

So enjoy this beautiful first unofficial day of summer. And remember not everybody is as lucky as you are to be out enjoying it in the sun. Always remember those who are fighting on your behalf, and pray that all of them will make it home safely.