Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation, and across the world. It is just after 8:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current outdoor temperature is 72° under partly-cloudy skies. My DTWS is reporting 74.8º on the front porch and 72.7º on the deck. According to the NWS, light winds of 7 mph make it feel like 72°. Today's high temperature is forecast to be 87º under partly-sunny skies with a relative humidity index of 60% and only a 5% chance for additional precipitation. That 88º is 4º warmer than yesterday. I'll be watering the vast gardens again today and for several more days, as the temperature forecast from the NWS is for the upper 80s and lower 90s for at least the next ten days!

According to my DTWS, the barometric pressure is 29.53" and rising, while the NWS is reporting 30.03", and also rising. Rising barometric pressures indicate that the forecast for no significant precipitation for the foreseeable future is accurate.

The sun rose this morning @ 6:11 a.m. and it will set later @ 9:27 p.m.

Speaking of roses, in a tangential way, Mary was out in her rose gardens yesterday and cut some for her flower room. Here they are in all their glory alongside the other plants in our foyer.

As always, a great aroma!

Today is the Fourth of July, as most everyone knows, a day to celebrate the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our nation. It's also John P's birthday. In honor of that occasion, I have included a clip from YouTube™ from one of my favorite old Warner Brother's musicals, Yankee Doodle Dandy starring the late James Cagney as George M. Cohan, the author of that song.


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVkscRLqOlQ

I made some vegan Italian meatballs yesterday and also found another old family recipe for vegan hot dogs that should be a big improvement over my last effort. 

Otherwise, we'll endure another day of amateur pyromaniacs as they attempt to burn down the surrounding area or maim themselves or others. An article in a recent edition of the Grand Haven Tribune written by Marie Havenga and Meghan Haas highlighted the dangers of amateur fireworks displays. A corollary article written by the Tribune's Nick Moran, described the booming sales of fireworks to amateurs that included a statement that said, sales of fireworks are "Skyrocketing!"

Unfortunately, those sales include everything from sparklers, which are very dangerous for children, to bottle-rockets, and often include huge exploding displays. "The bigger the firework, the faster they’re selling", as one merchant put it. Sigh, we ain't seen nothing yet.

Sadly for STWD, amateur fireworks displays are allowed in GH from June 29, until tonight @ 11:45 p.m. Then it's over for another year. That is unless the pyromaniacs have leftovers to set off at some other time, say around the time when our annual Coast Guard Festival is usually held at the end of this month into early August.

Otherwise, today is a day for some housekeeping here at the manse. Now that our A/C is working and the windows are closed, we can get things dusted. You never realize how much dust accumulates in a short time with the windows open. Ciao.