Down here
in Texas, thirty miles north of Dallas.
We’ve
begun the Dog Days of Summer (which traditionally begins in August, but here we’re
about two months’ ahead of the northeast in heat), with temperatures firmly in the
upper 90s. Not bad, since I expect July will be 31 days of 100-plus temps, but
the humidity is a little more oppressive than I remember from the past two
summers.
Which is
slightly less than optimal, as I’m beginning my first major home ownership
project tomorrow (I’ve taken a PTO day Friday and have the entire weekend). I’m
re-staining the fence that perimeters my backyard. We measured it before buying
all the stain needed, and though I forgot the exact numbers, it’s a six-foot
fence about a hundred or so feet in length, and both sides need to be done. I
expect it will take all weekend, though I want to get the majority of the work
done early in the mornings and in the evenings if possible.
Other than
that its been a slow June. We had excitement for Patch’s Confirmation and
Father’s Day, and Little One’s college roommate is in town taking classes over
the summer, so she visits on occasion. Last Sunday we went to mass at the
college campus and were pleasantly surprised at the reverence shown by clergy
and laypeople alike. Little One goes to a Catholic college which takes its
Catholicity seriously, unlike more larger, well-known “Catholic” colleges such
as Notre Dame or Georgetown.
I’m
currently a third into my favorite Clancy novel, The Sum of All Fears, my
introduction to the literary Jack Ryan first read in the Fall of ’94. After that
I have two remaining Clancy novels to plow through, Debt of Honor and Executive
Orders, which should take me to mid-September. Then I think a detour into
Westerns, as I picked out three L’Amours and Lonesome Dove by Larry
McMurtry for $11. For Halloween I plan on returning to Clive Barker, as I did a
few years’ back. Not sure about November and December. Maybe I’ll give Asimov’s
Foundation novels a third go (it’s the only Asimov I’ve never been able
to crack in my youth), or The Illuminatus Trilogy, another omnibus that
defeated me about ten or twelve years ago.
As far as
nonfiction goes, I’ve been winding my way through an 1,800-page exegesis on the
Bhagavad Gita. Nine summers ago I read Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light which
piqued an interest in Hindu lore and mythology and I read a shorter Gita back
then. This one kinda jumped off the library shelf at me two weeks ago, and,
well, now I’m closing in on page 400.
After that
I’m not sure what nonfiction I’ll take up. Possibly Bruce Catton’s Mr.
Lincoln’s Army, which I picked up when we visited my sister-in-law in Idaho
in March of 2022. A blogger I’ve been reading for 15+ years is a Civil War buff
(among many side hobbies he writes about) and that caused me to consider
Catton, staring down at me in silent condemnation at my twenty-seven months of
neglect. In November, however, I decided to read the thousand-page A
Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House, published in 1965 and
winner of the Pulitzer Price a year later. This is in preparation for a visit
to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dealey Plaza, which we’ve finally vowed to see
this fall.
The girls
are enjoying summer so far, having been out of school for about six weeks now.
Halfway point will be the Fourth of July next week. We might go attend a minor-league
ball game where we can swim in a pool in the outfield and watch fireworks
afterwards, a repeat of what we did last year. It’s nice that Little One has
her license now, as she takes my car to get dinner, drive Patch around, and
drive to her college to hang with her roomie every now and then (and not to
mention drive to work when I’m home remote).
The wife
is currently in Austin until Friday evening. She’s doing such a good job that
her superiors expanded her territory to almost the entirety of Texas and
Oklahoma too. So on occasion she needs to drive out to Austin and spend a few
days there visiting her people. Which is good for the family; more territory =
more volume = more commission = greater bonus payout.
Me, I’m
still at my corporate job doing my boring corporate thing. I’ve also taken on
more responsibilities, but that only translated in a 4 percent raise. Which
means I’m still making less money when I started due to inflation, but not as
less as I could be making. Thanks Joe Biden. But even better, I’ve noticed the
whole woke thing is starting to die out. “DEI out.” Thank God. Pride Month came
and went with a tenth of the fanfare the company gave it last year, the same for
Juneteenth. With any luck it’ll be gone next year and the company can focus on
its real mission and allow its employees to work to accomplish that, without
all this time wasting side nonsense.
Anyway,
that’s pretty much a general update here in northeast Texas. Hope things are
all going well with you all. Read something fantastic today!
No comments:
Post a Comment