By Bob Tagert

As I write the August Publishers Notes the heat index this week is forecast to be around 105 or more degrees. Scientists say that the first two weeks of July were the hottest on record. The averages temperatures for August range between 69 to 89 degrees. Hopefully August will be a little kinder to us. There is a silver lining to the heat and the rain – see the photo of me standing in front of our friends hydrangeas. I am about 5’11”. These are amazing. Also amazing, are the sunflowers on the cover that will be in full bloom this month. Will be worth the drive to see them. (See About the Cover)

One sure way to escape the heat is to head to the beach. This past month we took a Road Trip to Ocean City – Maryland not Jersey. The cool waters of the Atlantic Ocean were exactly where I left them years ago. There is always something calming about the ocean…there can be hundreds of folks around, but it is just you and the surf rolling in. Was good to spend time with a longtime friend and meet some new ones along the way.

As summer is winding down, tourist season is in its last throes. Families are fitting in the family vacation before school starts and trying to jam in everything as Labor Day is fast approaching. This means lots of foot traffic on lower King Street here in Old Town. While I am all for the ‘pedestrian mall’ in the 0 and 100 blocks, the amount of people crossing Union Street on a weekend is unreal. Alexandria might want to consider getting a “crossing guard” so vehicles can pass through the intersection without worrying about hitting someone – especially those who have their noses buried in their phones. Enough of that rant.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank everyone who called, texted, emailed and posted on social media how much they liked our July “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet” issue. As always, we are very grateful for our dedicated readers. It really was serendipitous how it all fell in place. Little did we know when we were doing the Blue Ridge distribution that Jack and Barbara Sharp were participating in an antique car show outside of Front Royal, VA with our cover girl “Miss Red”. Well…we had to stop in and see her and drop off some hard copies and what a nice surprise to turn the corner entering the show and see an enlargement of the cover displayed with her. Another bonus was picking up a “Perfect Apple Pie” (Barbara’s recipe is on page 31 of the July issue) at the same time! Believe me…it was perfect. I hope you enjoy this month’s “Dog Days of Summer” theme half as much!

I am betting that many of you, like me, get notifications daily that said day is the “National Day” of something. Well, I consulted Google and found some of these upcoming “National Days” to be interesting since they lead up to a major day for celebration at the end of the month.

2^nd – Ice Cream Sandwich Day

3^rd – Watermelon Day

6^th – Root Beer Float Day

13^th – Filet Mignon Day

19^th – Potato Day

20^th – Bacon Lovers Day

29^th – Lani’s 70^th Trip Around the Sun Day

My partner Lani is one of the very few woman I’ve known that looks forward to milestone birthdays and I have to admit she has had some pretty great parties in the past. She started planning her 70^th in April and I have a sneaking suspicion August will entail a month-long series of “events” and I bet a few of them will take place on the days listed above since they are a few of her favorites. If you see her around town any time between the 1^st and the 29^th, tell her Happy Birthday!

In the meantime, stay cool out there!