Most of you probably noticed it’s been a little warm lately, and, in fact, July was the hottest month ever in the US. Or at least since they started keeping records in 1895. I know it’s been hotter than usual around here. We’ve had 23 days where it was at least 90 (I know, I know, OK and AZ are much hotter than that – you guys “win”). That’s not a record yet (the record is 28 days, and we’ve got most of August left). We also haven’t had much in the way of rain (I haven’t cut the grass in close to a month, and the only reason I did it then was to knock the weeds down; Queen Anne’s Lace (aka, Wild Carrot, though I’ve never seen carrots hanging off these things) apparently doesn’t need much water. Ditto Milkweed (we have some pretty impressive ones). And the Catnip seems to be doing pretty good, too. The grass, not so much.
It’s sad to think that August is almost a third of the way over with already. I’ll be regaling you with tales of the NYS Fair butter sculpture before you know it. And SU football practice started a few days ago, bringing with it high hopes (and low expectations) for the coming season. Speaking of low expectations, preseason camp (and Tebowmania) in Cortland for the NY Jets has already come and gone (temporarily; they’ll be back after their first preseason game against Cincinnati).
The Olympics have just about wrapped up, from what I understand. I’m not sure how long they go, as I haven’t been paying much attention. Even the beach volleyball doesn’t have the same thrill it used to. I must be getting old.
But then again, the Olympics aren’t really geared toward me, at least if the story on NPR this morning is true. Apparently, the audience for the Olympics aren’t really “hardcore” sports people (not that I’m all that hardcore these days). They’re actually geared toward women and families and people who don’t even like sports. This is why – according to the guy they were interviewing – they have all that sappy back story, overcoming adversity stuff (instead of actually showing, like the event).
So I guess that’s why I’m not watching the Olympics. Either that, or I just don’t give a crap about dressage.
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Brooklyn and Shelter Island have had plenty of rain so we get to cut the grass AND the amazing milkweed. The bamboo, of course, is not to be deterred. It grows a good 30′ high and in dense clusters through which my cat would have a hard time walking. I read about getting rid of it and found out that you have to cut the stalk about 6″ from the ground and then immediately apply poison because the sap will carry the poison to the roots but disappears after 15 minutes. Once you have accomplished that you have to dig a pit 3 feet deep, fill it with a foot of gravel, place plastic on top of that and then soil and grass. Or, you can have an impenetrable forest of bamboo just waiting for a nice panda to wander by and eat it.