Monday Musings - July 19, 2021

 

1. July has truly arrived and is now beginning the third week with the third Monday of the month. The Dog Days are upon us.

2. The heat broke a bit yesterday. It felt good to fall into the pool after riding my NordicTrack through St. Augustine, Florida. The air was cooler than the water.

Rex at Pool's Edge
Elkridge, MD
July 18, 2021

3. The end of dog watching week arrived. Over the course of the week we were responsible for eight dogs! And now there are two.

4. Summertime is truly here. It has been incredibly hot outside, but the afternoon rains are keeping most everything green as July begins slipping into August.

5. Chris and I were encouraged to see two bats dancing in the sky last evening.

6. I am amazed at how busy my schedule for the week is shaping up. Tonight I have a 90 minute massage planned to erase the tension of last week.

7. The Orioles actually won a series besting the Royals! They are still the worst team in the American League. With 70 games remaining this season it is possible that they will end the season with 50 wins. Far below my pre-season prediction.

8. Today in History. Although there is some debate about the exact date, on what was likely July 19, 1799, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign, a French soldier discovers a black basalt slab inscribed with ancient writing near the town of Rosetta, about 35 miles east of Alexandria. The irregularly shaped stone contained fragments of passages written in three different scripts: Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic. The ancient Greek on the Rosetta Stone told archaeologists that it was inscribed by priests honoring the king of Egypt, Ptolemy V, in the second century B.C. More startlingly, the Greek passage announced that the three scripts were all of identical meaning. The artifact thus held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a written language that had been “dead” for nearly 2,000 years.

England Enters ‘Freedom Day’ With Prime Minister in IsolationEngland Enters ‘Freedom Day’ With Prime Minister in Isolation - The New York Times

Scorched, Parched and Uninsurable: Climate Change Hits Wine CountryScorched, Parched and Uninsurable: Climate Change Hits Wine Country - The New York Times

Days Before the Olympics, More Athletes Test Positive for Covid-19 - The Wall Street Journal

Hubble Space Telescope Is Back in Action After NASA Fixes Odd Glitch - The Wall Street Journal

Unruly airplane passengers are straining the system for keeping peace in the sky - The Washington Post

Disease experts see summer of covid freedom as premature - The Washington Post

Israeli firm's spyware used to target journalists' cell phones - Reuters

Russia says it successfully tested hypersonic missile praised by Putin - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

I think we can all agree that today our bipartisan coalition is becoming a strong and vibrant one. But I think we can also agree that we'll need this strength and vibrancy, because the challenges we must face together are by no means over. The struggle against government's irresistible urge to grow and grow is a continuing one. The fight to control the Federal budget is just beginning. But on this front, I think we can be very clear: There will be no falling back, no call for retreat.

We've stood together. We've fought together for what we believed was right. I know that we'll do so again. But today I wanted you to know how grateful I am to you and how grateful the American people are for your selflessness and your statesmanship.

Remarks at a Meeting With Congressional Leaders Following Passage of Federal Budget Reconciliation and Tax Reduction Legislation - August 5, 1981

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD