“The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” ― Martha Washington

We don't need the heat index to tell us how seriously hot it is, the actual temperature is quickly closing in on 3 digits. Remember week before last when I was announcing how the good rain had erased some early yellow-brown near the asphalt, well, it's back with a vengeance. It is Thursday, July 9, 2020, and I hope the A/C endures because it rarely gets a break. This in the midst of the Pandemic Part II. All of that as we get ready for an outdoor wedding for our granddaughter Amanda Faith this coming Saturday afternoon. I believe Saturday may be the first 100 degrees reading of the year. Amanda and her intended, Manny, are not responsible for all of these circumstances, but, the tension is there as the planning goes forth. I think there are around 60 confirmed to attend and that will make social distancing very interesting indeed. We do pray God's blessings on this couple. We know, by experience, that doing it on your own is not good enough. God must be there to provide every step of the way. Sure, it does seem impossible since it was only yesterday I was sitting on the couch with Amanda and her twin Alesha and the three of us were glued to Emeril Legasse's cooking show anticipating his next BAM! so we all could chime in with him. As for the ceremony, they will be furnishing masks for all those attending along with individual hand sanitizers. That should make for some good photos.

If this edition tends to drag a little, take note that I am working on it the evening before publication. I do not do that well brain-wise in the evenings. But, we are pretty loaded up with stuff to do and all the other rat killing we chase each day, therefore, I jumped on the laptop when I could. One of my regrets from my past, especially early on in my management career, is in not giving more deference to people who operated on a different cycle than my own. I was at the top of my game by 5 a.m. or even earlier each day. If I had a special project I would call a meeting at 6 a.m. and I required all of my key people to be there. After a number of these shenanigans, the technical support manager got up enough nerve to challenge me. "I hope you know you kill off the day for about half of my team when you make them come in so early. They work nearly every day, typically until after midnight and you like to tell everyone how we have the brightest of the brightest on our team. You are making it hard for them to do their best." Fortunately, I got over the 'who's the boss?' quickly and changed my tune. We all are different. I am a long term, committed, consecrated early morning person. Many are not. They can do good work too. There. I said it. I now feel better. 

It would be really easy to get down and out regarding all that is going on in our country today. I've never seen so many people recommending to their friends and family to just stop watching news media sources. It is clear there is an agenda for most of the news outlets and it has to do with defeating the current occupant of the oval office. If you don't see this, I'm not sure what you are seeing. It is that clear. To be fair, the President declared war against the media and it did help him to get elected in 2016. Back then the media spent a lot of time arguing about their fairness and balance. Not any more. It's as if they all have agreed. He wanted war and he is going to get it. In the midst of this anger-driven environment, add the Coronavirus, the tanked economy, and the racial tensions and you end up with a more difficult situation than before. I actually think, regardless of how weak his opponent is, this is an uphill battle for him. I did hear one pundit saying there's some indication that the silent majority is growing. He will need as much of that as he can get. The bottom line, from my perspective, remains the same. Like President Trump or not and there's much not to like, people of faith, people who believe in the principles of our founding, people who care about values, they still could not in good conscience vote for the overt destruction of these things we hold dear. Yes. I will hold my nose if necessary, but, I will vote for the candidate that leans towards these treasured beliefs. Just me. We all will have to make up our own minds. Amen. .....More later.