Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation, and across the world. It is just after 3:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current outdoor temperature is 73° under partly-cloudy skies. My DTWS is reporting 75º here at the manse. According to the NWS, light winds of 0 mph make it feel like 73°. Today's high temperature is forecast to be 88º under partly-sunny/rainy skies with a relative humidity index of 68% with a slight chance for a stray T-storm or shower today. That 88º is 4º higher than yesterday! Since I can't count on that stray shower, I'll be watering again today.

According to my DTWS, the barometric pressure is 29.27" and slowly falling, while the NWS is reporting 29.88" and slowly falling too. 

We still have that Air Quality Alert in effect until 9:00 p.m. tonight. Unless and until these high temperatures and low rain days give way, that is likely to be the case. However, the NWS is forecasting between 50% and an 80% chance for T-storms tomorrow morning, so we shall see.

Not much was happening here yesterday. I was busy in the vast gardens and all around the outdoor areas of the manse, while Mary finished the laundry that I started. I like being outside and doing yard work, but I try to limit my time outdoors when the air quality is poor and the temperature and humidity is high. 

In the afternoon, both Mary and I sat down at our desks and spent about two hours coloring. I used my new Prismacolor™ pencils for the first time and they are significantly better than any other pencils I have used in the past. When I'm done with my latest effort, I'll share a pic.

After I was done with coloring, I played Blue, my Ovation™ six-string guitar, and sang along with my playing. Blue is a 1982 model that I have liked since I bought her a long time ago. I think my playing yesterday was superior to my singing. Oh well, the end result is that I had some fun and relaxation as I did both activities.

Today, we have no specific plans other than to unpackage some newly arrived items, play with the Girls more, color more, and watch more TV. Since the latest statistics for our state with regard to the pandemic are pointing towards a new shutdown, it is likely that that will be our future for many more months. We can't go blithely about our business and pretend that there is no danger. We've not done so since last March and we aren't about to start now. So many fools, so little space. 

Our governor is following the CDC guidelines and yet, the citizenry is not, so here we are. Our illustrious POTUS is demanding that the schools open in late August or he'll hold back federal funds, like the funds are his money, not ours. In fact, the CDC guidelines for schools are not to his liking, so he wants to see them watered down. As a retired teacher, I can easily imagine the struggle it will be with young people as they sit in socially distanced classroom settings and wear masks. 

Middle school and above, the teachers have a fighting chance, but in the lower grades, it will be a constant struggle, while trying to teach a lesson and police the students who either through ignorance or parental urgings, won't want to wear masks nor keep their distance. 

As I noted previously, here in Michigan and around the country, schools are staffed by custodians, support personnel, and teachers, many of whom are not as young as they used to be. So, even if it were true that young people are less likely to be affected by this dread disease, the schools are heavily dependent upon adults too. We need more teachers, more substitute teachers, and more space, which equates to more $$.  Plus, the latest info is that college graduates are not going into education. That's no surprise with the chance of being shot, catching a life-threatening disease, or whatever being a constant. What are the odds that an ignorant POTUS is likely to help with that? Ciao.