This is a picture from 10 years ago. He looks the same with just a little more gray

Happy 96^th birthday Tom! – My brother turned 96 this past week. He doesn’t look his age and certainly doesn’t act it, but he is getting slower. He still golfs and is active in local non-profits. We are fortunate that our gene pool doesn’t have any severe chronic illnesses. He has all his own parts too!

Speaking of my brother – His air conditioning went out yesterday, the holiday (that’s when you incur extra fees). The HVAC company was very busy, but they eventually made it out and all is well. It was just another monkey wrench in the week’s plans.

My brother at 17 and me at maybe 6 months.

Seriously? – We haven’t had weather like this in 30 years. We don’t typically hit 100 degrees (38C) in the summer but we did this week. It was several days in a row (even more unusual). The nighttime temps were in the 80s (hovering near 30C). That’s not cool enough to feel refreshed in the morning. I watered a lot to keep my flowers and newly planted shrubs alive. Even the birds weren’t as active. The timing was unfortunate as there were so many festivities planned for 250^th celebration of the US. Many were cancelled.

Is it me? – After years of talking about it, I finally bought walking sticks. Sometimes I have balance issues walking on the gravelly areas around here. Even the roads are not even. As soon as I bought them, we went into “it’s too hot to walk” mode. They are patiently waiting for their inaugural walk! I have great expectations for them! (I should have bought battery operated set. Do they make those?)

My brother with our niece.

Family – Over the next few weeks we’ll have out of state family visiting. That’s always a hectic fun time and maybe a story or two to tell.

So how was your week?