Summer check up
Here we are heading into the last week of July and as usual we begin to notice how quickly summer is flying by.
We are beginning to lose a bit of daylight as sunrise and sunset move away from their peak in June. We have had a few hot and humid days but for the most part here in the Middle Atlantic region summer is averaging close to normal.
So far four days above 90 degrees and the highest was 93 on June 29th. In the mountains our high was 88 degrees. The humidity helped produce a few good rains to benefit area gardens without the flooding prevalent in other areas of the country.
After the rains we have been experiencing a few sunny, cooler, dry days which has made for some great weather to experience the outdoors.
This past week smoke from the fires out west caused our blue skies to give way to a hazy, milky sort of look and sunsets and sunrises were orange and red from all the smoke.
A few days ago I was up at dawn and decided on an early morning bike ride on our Great Allegheny Passage in Ohiopyle. As I descended the mountain into town the valley was shrouded in a thick fog that likes to form on summer mornings along our river valleys. Winds are usually calm and the fog lends a peaceful setting to the landscape.
I ended up being the only person on the trail at this hour for a quiet 16 mile ride.
My mind was troubled on this day because before heading to the trail I glanced at the front page of our Herald-Standard paper and saw the picture of the sign in front yard that said getting a vaccine will kill you. The news that day also talked about the resurgence of the virus and that most of the people getting it were unvaccinated.
Just when we seem to be getting a handle on the pandemic it is surging again. My mind would not settle and kept seeing the image of the sign. Over 600,000 Americans have succumbed to the disease and world-wide we are close to 5,000,000 fellow human beings losing their lives. Not to mention the suffering of those who fought the disease and lived, and the wreckage of economies.
A terrifying amount of misinformation seems to be out there and so much of this comes from sources that may be questionable.
As I was riding back into town a sudden noise on the opposite side of the river jarred me from my thought process. It was the morning train that runs from Chicago into Pittsburgh and then onto Washington. We call it the 803 since that is it’s scheduled time to pass through Ohiopyle, but rarely is it on time.
The train reminded me that we are all on this journey through life. We can do a lot of good and we can do harm. Misinformation can end up being very harmful. Getting a vaccine will protect you but better yet it will protect others.
Perhaps we can think about this and jump on the train of life and enjoy the sunny days ahead.