Who's not talking about the weather?

How about that weather we had last weekend.  Around my neighborhood, a couple of showers came through but we certainly didn't get the storm damage that other parts of the country experienced.  It was hot.  Really hot.  On my deck, my temperature device got into the 90s, but those carefully protected "official" device operated by the weather service and TV stations didn't get that warm.  I often stick my body into the outside and decide my device is closer to the truth.

Those terrible forest fires out in Colorado bring back memories of Maine's most devastating forest fires back in 1947.  Because of my dad's business, he was able to volunteer manpower and equipment to help in the evacuation process.  He reluctantly let me ride along on one of the trips.  I saw the fire up close and but at my young age I couldn't fully understand the enormity of the destruction taking place around us.

We didn't have the instant communications back then that we have now so my knowledge is mostly of stories I heard.  Today, thanks to television, we can see the fire consuming millions of acres and the loss of homes and forests up close and personal.  I'm really glad I live in Maine but that doesn't diminish the sadness I feel for my fellow Americans losing all they've built up in lifetimes.

We feel equally as badly for the people in the mid-Atlantic states who have also undergone storm related disasters in the last few days.  All that's going on in this country right now makes Maine a good place in which to live, in spite of the few 90 degree days.

As I mentioned last week, the fireworks season is underway.  Consumer fireworks cannot legally be shot off until Tuesday, but just like every year since they were banned 63 years ago, fireworks have been fired by people who had brought them in from out of state.  This year, of course, they can be purchased legally in Maine and in communities which have not over-ridden the new state law allowing their return.

I'm not sure if it's the new law or people have moved away from my neighborhood, but, even though we have heard a few early blasts, so far this has been one of the quietest fireworks season, at least since we moved here.  Perhaps the neighbors are just waiting for the Fourth to have a real show.  We'll soon know.

I've always said that for me the real election season doesn't start until Labor Day so I'm trying to stay away from mentioning my political feelings right now.  With the plethora of Internet news and those ever-arriving e-mail "forwards," it is hard not to think about the upcoming election.  And, technically speaking, we don't even have any presidential candidates, yet.  Oh, yes, it would appear that President Obama and Mitt Romney will be their respective party's nominee, but the actual nomination conventions don't take place until later this summer.  Hard to believe, isn't it?

Nevertheless, I did receive one "forward" from my Fearless Friend, although he wasn't the originator of it, that caught my attention.  It said simply, "Try and fathom the hypocrisy of a Government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured...but not everyone must prove they are a citizen."

Dave