I can gather all the news I need on the weather report.
Sometimes this line from Paul Simon’s song, “Only Living Boy in New York,” makes me feel melancholy. Other times, it seems a useful recommendation for living a simple life.
And sometimes, such as during Virginia’s summer days, we don’t even need a weather report.
“What’s it going to be like today?” my husband calls from the bathroom.
“Hot.”
And there it is; nothing can be done.
Being outdoors on a scorching summer day is a great equalizer. Age, wealth, race… no matter who you are, you can only strip down to your skin and then you must let Nature have her way. (I’m not recommending mass removal of clothing, merely observing that the clothing required by cold weather can intensify differences.)
As draining of energy as summer’s heat can be, I thought I’d compose this month’s column in short segments. In the interludes, you may fan yourself with this magazine and sip a cool drink.

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Only two things that money can’t buy:
That’s true love
And homegrown tomatoes.
Last month, money could hardly buy store-bought tomatoes during the latest round of salmonella attacks. If Guy Clark’s musical words of wisdom don’t inspire you to plant yourself a tomato or two, maybe the FDA’s words of warning will.

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Speaking of love, remember Frank Reuss and Alvora Walsh? They were pictured sitting together in our June story about the weekly Nick and Friends concert at the McDonald’s on Iron Bridge Road in Chester.
They just got married—in the McDonald’s on Jeff Davis Highway in Chester. That’s where, every Wednesday morning, another local band entertains a loyal crowd of patrons. Reuss and Walsh figured that since all their friends would already be there, it was the best location to tie the knot.
Now that’s a happy meal.

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Fifty Plus columnist Alberta Lindsey won an award for her “Faith in Action” columns in the Virginia Press Women’s 2008 Communications Contest. She placed third in “Special articles—religion” for a pair of pieces published last year.

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Doesn’t it seem like there are more fireworks displays every year? As I looked through July’s calendar at the multiple options on July 3, 4 and 5, the grouch in me started to mutter: Isn’t this excessive? The expense! The noise!
But then I thought about how fireworks, like heat, bring us all to the same level. They are an enormous gift for everyone, whether or not one deserves it. They can be enjoyed absolutely free by thousands of people, all across town.
As they burst into constellations of red and white high above us, we raise our eyes and often even our necks, in a position of vulnerability, captivated by the fireworks’ power and beauty.
One of my treasured memories is of driving across Kansas at night on July 4. As we sped east across the plains, we could see fireworks displays from three or four towns at once, some close, some on the distant horizon. If I listened very closely, I could hear the low booms. For the most part, however, it was a silent show, which somehow made it easier to imagine the people in each of those places watching the fireworks. And even though I was miles away, just passing through, I felt, in a bigger sense, we were all together.

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