As many of you know, I’m a summer guy, I just love the summer heat and yes, even the humidity. Don’t get me wrong, autumn may be my favorite season, but summer, well summer is where it’s at for me.

Wouldn’t you just know it, we as summer lovers are having one of the greatest summers stringing so many great days together of high temps and even a few heat waves of 90-plus days, but it is certainly spoiled by COVID-19.

This weekend was promised to be a 10 and I believe that call was right on the nose.

Summers, as we know all too well around here, seems fleeting and never lasts too long. Sometimes we have a horrible, rainy and cold spring that pushes back summer and if it is bookended with an early winter, well, summer is ruined.

Related Video

The old joke in NEPA is there are four seasons, fall, winter, spring and 4th of July. Not this year for sure.

Last week as I was driving in the Poconos, I couldn’t help but think of all the summer businesses that have been set back by the pandemic. After all, the Poconos are known as a summer playground for many here in the northeast, including New York and New Jersey.

I just wonder how many businesses will survive this tragic medical crisis. How many will be hanging on to dear life over the summer?

Apparently our friend Tom Williams (not the WNEP morning anchor), owner of Pocono Bike Rental, is doing the best to keep business running. Tom cleans and sanitizes all bikes upon return from a rental. I guess he’s pretty lucky on one hand by having clients, but on the other hand, how many people are really going on vacation?

I drove through the Mt. Airy Lodge Casino only to be surprised how many cars were in the parking lots. Judging by what I saw, I’d be hard pressed to say they are limiting their customers. As usual, so many license plates were from New York, New Jersey and even a few from Connecticut.

The last place you’ll see me at this stage of the game in the pandemic is in a casino. Granted, I’m not a gambler, but I did, from time-to-time, enjoy heading to the Mohegan Sun Casino to walk the circled hallway and/or hit one of the restaurants.

It was always nice to go there during winter months just to get out of the house. If I think about it, I used to go the Wyoming Valley Mall in my younger days do get out of the house. It was always great bumping into friends there. It seems the casino replaced the mall.

As I said, I won’t go to the casino. I’m doing my best to stick to guidelines set by authorities regarding staying safe with the virus.

The other day, our friend Ed Esposito posted on Facebook that he is missing the summer bazaars. I take it he’s not the only one. If anyone is missing the bazaars, it’s those organizations that host the events.

Many churches and fire companies probably relied on a summer bazaar as one of their main fundraisers of the year. So, needless to say, there’s a great big ouch.

I feel many of us have excepted what is happening and yet, I still hear a lot of grumbling and really, there’s nothing you can do about it unless you want to risk potential harm while rolling the dice on whether you get sick or not.

Again, I’ve said this before, our numbers in Luzerne County are not too terrible and I have to give everyone a pat on the back for staying diligent and doing there best. The first big hit of the virus attacked the elderly but this phase (for the lack of a better word) is really gunning for younger people.

Let’s face it, summertime means fun time as I said above, so when do we party the most? Summertime. There seems to be plenty of private outdoor parties where not many are staying socially distanced and with parties, there are beverages and you can’t really have a beverage with a mask on, so you see where I’m going with this. It’s not a safe environment.

With that said, there’s still plenty to do this summer. You can ride a bike, as Tom Williams would tell you, you can kayak down the Susquehanna River as my friend Paul Argenio does from time-to-time. You can hike to a million places in NEPA or you can just take a stroll around the neighborhood.

Don’t forget some of those outdoor chores you’ve neglected for year like painting a fence or treating the asphalt driveway.

It might be a bit late to plant a garden, but you can still plant flowers.

Whatever you do, hang on to the summer for as long as it is here treating us with glorious sun and warmth because before you know it, autumn will be in our sight and who knows what we will or won’t be looking forward to that has been postponed or cancelled.

Please wear your mask at all times out in public, do your six-foot distancing, wash your hands as often as possible and keep safe. In doing so, you’ll keep someone next to you safe as well.

Quote of the week

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss

Thought of the week

“Two things that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” – Albert Einstein

Bumper sticker

“You can’t be happy unless you’re unhappy sometimes.” – Lauren Oliver