Now that August is upon is, the final month for summer before school goes back in session, it’s time to pack in as much as we can over the next four weeks if you love the warm weather.
It’s been a crazy summer with tons of rain mixed in with some very hot days over 90 degrees, and we had the occasional weather pattern of unseasonal cool temps as we experienced at the end of this past week.
There is still plenty to do before we put the summer of 2021 to bed. Hiking is always something that can be done all-year-round and it doesn’t have to cost a dime.
Heading to the beach is a good option for those seeking last minute summertime fun.
I can’t remember the last time I actually went to the beach or went into the ocean. The beach and ocean are not one of those places I feel I have to do each summer but I know a lot of people that need that beach and ocean fix.
When I think of the beach, I think of people watching, the steady sound of the waves crashing, the breeze, the sun, the sand, and falling asleep with something covering my eyes.
Last week, I mentioned having that feeling of comfort by being in one spot and just relaxing, but for some reason, lying on a blanket on a beach isn’t one of them.
I was always a pool guy growing up. I had the benefit of living in a town with a community pool and we took advantage of it daily.
It was our social spot for children and adolescents and it’s probably the place when I began the base of my personality traits of being outgoing.
It was a great place to meet new people, make new friends, and have fun with your current friends.
I was always in the water most of the time, again, not one to lie on my blanket to catch some rays. With my olive skin tone, I didn’t need the aid of laying on a blanket or my beach towel to get a tan. I got tanned by simply walking from point A to point B in the sun.
At our community pool, once an hour, the lifeguards would blow their whistles indicating it was time for an adult swim. All the kids would moan and groan as we exited the pool so our parents or anyone over 21 could enter the pool without getting splashed on or bumped while in pool by the younger kids.
Usually we’d head to our blankets or towels for the 10 or 15 minutes of adult swim. Some would just sit on the benches posted around the pool and some would just grab whatever money mom or dad gave us to spend at the food stand.
Remember transistor radios? Those little radios that only received AM stations were about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
The station everyone preferred back in a day was the powerful WARM. That channel reached way out of northeastern Pennsylvania. I believe their maximum wattage output was 5,000 watts, but maybe my friend Joe Middleton would know better.
When we took our yearly summer excursions to Long Island to visit my great aunt, uncle and cousins, we could pick up WARM in New Jersey. Yep, AM radio was king back in those days.
When we lost the WARM signal, we would search for Channel 77, WABC, out of New York City. For some reason, I still remember one of the DJs back then, Ron Lundy. Lundy was pretty popular and his show ran on WABC from 1962 to 1982. For 20-years, he was the number one guy. I can even remember the jingle for WABC.
Lundy was a cool guy with a velvet voice and back in the 60s, DJs were as close to being a rock star as you could get. For as much as I thought Lundy was cool and for as much as I thought my parents were uncool, Lundy was only five-years younger than my dad.
Back home, we had our own DJ personalities the Mighty 590 – WARM when I was growing up. People like George Gilbert (Double G), Harry West, Little Joey Shaver, Terry McNulty, Tommy Woods, and later Tim Karlson. Jerry Heller would do the news and Ron Allen did sports.
Remember one of their catch phrases? “Is it hot enough for you? It’s only WARM for me!” Those were great days and great times.
Getting back on track, naturally COVID is still in the news today as well as the Olympics and for me neither are any fun for me.
Now that the Delta variant of COVID has taken center stage, it appears this strain is stronger and more contagious that the original virus.
I still don’t understand the hesitancy in getting the vaccine. Millions of people around the globe have been inoculated with a tiny amount of residual affects. I’m sure with any injected vaccine, there are risks, miniscule at that, but the good of the vaccine outweigh the bad.
We all want this pandemic gone and yes, I’m sure something else will crop up again at sometime, but for what it’s worth, I received the vaccine and did my part to get over this virus.
Quote of the week
“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.” – Mindy Hale
Thoughts of the week
“You are braver than you believe, and strong than you seem and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin
Bumper stick
“You do not find the happy life. You make it.” – Camilla Eyring Kimball
