Goodby Summer

Goodby Summer | 2022

In this episode (173) – Goodby Summer 2022 . . .

Wow! Can you believe summer is over? This year (2022) has flown by. It's early morning, and already I'm noticing the sunrise arriving later and later. Siri tells me, "The Sun will rise at 6:43 a.m." The shorter days bring cooler weather. Soon we will don our jackets for an early morning walk. Me, I enjoy the warmth and comfort of my blue flannel shirt.

For you sky watchers, the Hunters Moon is your gateway to fall; it will be visible on Sunday, October 9, 2022, at 16:55 EST, based on the data provided by NASA.

Legend has it that Native Americans inspired the Full Moon's name as they prepared for the winter. They would start gathering provisions to get them through the winter. The October full moon is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the moon occurs when the season for hunting many game animals begins. That crisp, fresh, colorful time of year.

Autumn is a time to gather, to prepare for early darkness, a time to plan for the holidays, a time to re-examine your opportunities, and a time to give thanks. It is after Labor Day, and the California beaches are quiet once again, with the local surfers feeling the chill of the Pacific. This past Sunday, the crowds disappeared while we cruised the coast on our bicycles along the Oceanside boardwalk. You could smell the salt of the Ocean as the waves crashed among the large boulders that guard the roadway.

For Lori and I, it's a time to celebrate. This year we will celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary at one of our favorite spots on earth, Yosemite National Park.

We are fortunate in California; our temperate climate allows us to participate in many outdoor activities. So, get outside and take advantage of the cool, crisp fresh air, the morning glow, golden sunsets, and the glorious colors of the changing trees.

Goodbye to summer.

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. I'll see you in the next episode.

Comments

Back to School (Without the Triple Lindy)

I hadn’t set foot inside a public library in over thirty years. Last Saturday, when I walked through the sliding doors of the modern County of San Diego branch on Eucalyptus Avenue in Vista, my eyes instinctively scanned the floor for the familiar, comforting sight of varnished oak cabinets and brass pull-handles. Nothing . No card catalog. No little wooden drawers. No rows of index cards typed by someone who presumably had beautiful penmanship and a pension. I walked up to the front desk, looked the librarian dead in the eye, and asked with complete earnestness: "Where’s the card catalog?" She didn’t laugh, though she had every right to. Instead, she offered a warm, dry smile: "We magically had the computer digest it." And just like that, I was enrolled. Not the Rodney Dangerfield kind of back-to-school. No diving board, no loud blazer, no campus party, and thankfully, no need to convince anyone I belonged there. Just an overdue reminder that while I was busy with ...

Beyond Facts-The Deep Dive

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . . This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholē , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...

The Rhythm of the Woodpecker

The morning in Vista often begins under a heavy, gray marine layer that rolls in from the coast, pressing a damp, muffled stillness over the neighborhood. At 4:30 a.m., the driveways are still full. The local commuters are either blissfully unconscious or stumbling blindly toward their showers, clinging desperately to their last shred of peace before the nine-to-five grind claims them for the day. I, on the other hand, am voluntarily wide awake in the dark. When your agenda consists of absolutely nothing, it is critical to get an early start. Inside the house, the quiet is profound, broken only by the sharp, mechanical click of the kettle as it reaches a rolling boil. I stand at the counter, watching the dark ground coffee bloom as hot water hits the French press's stainless steel. The smell is sudden and heavy—a deep, roasted-earth aroma that cuts through the morning fog. I push against the plunger’s gritty resistance, pouring a cup that radiates dark, stinging heat against my pal...

How to Horrify a Professional Skeptic

Today’s " Professional Skeptic" knows exactly how retirement is supposed to unfold: you lose your job, your identity, and your purpose. Within months, you're complaining about restaurant portions and detailing your blood pressure to strangers in line at the post office. For a generation distrustful of leaders, convinced the future is a rigged game, a peaceful retirement is an outdated myth. The working world expects you to stay “on the hook.” Former bosses are quick to ask, “Can we call you? What are your consulting fees?” So, just for fun, picture a deeply suspicious, invisible observer lurking in my kitchen. Let's call him Captain Content. The Captain doesn't wear a top hat or wring bony fingers. Instead, imagine a younger guy glued to his smartphone, heavily caffeinated, and entirely convinced the system is broken. He live-streams my morning routine to his echo chamber while on a conference call with 48 attendees on his second phone, waiting for the inevitabl...

On The Fly

Search This Blog