PLATTEVILLE, June 10 — Ah, summer, the days of highs in the high 80s accompanied by air thick enough to cut into blocks, potential severe weather (according to today’s forecast as of Monday) and crawling, flying and biting things.
As cynical as that sounds, all of that beats the horrible lingering death (a line from the original Star Trek) of winter. Those who need to cool off today can (1) watch such winter-themed movies as “Ice Station Zebra” or “Where Eagles Dare” (both based on Alastair McLean adventure novels) or (2) look at next week’s much cooler forecast (as of Monday). Remember that, thanks to the earliest possible Memorial Day and latest possible Labor Day, this will be the longest possible summer as correctly measured.
Maybe it’s because my birthday is in June, but summer has always been my favorite season, and it might be the only real reason to live in this state, whether or not you own a boat or fish. Certainly not “spring,” and while most of fall is pleasant, inherent in those cool nights is a reminder of what follows. British comedian John Cleese once said he figured out he had 25 summers left in his life, and he decided he didn’t want to mar any of those summers with work. (Something said by absolutely no one in my line of work.) I believe, by the way, that Cleese has outlived his 25-summer prediction, but he lives in Britain, legendary for unpleasant weather and dubious food (unless you like fish and chips, which I do).
The added feature of this summer is getting used to the new leg. This summer will be, thanks to prosthetist and physical therapy appointments, learning how to walk correctly (as possibly opposed to how I have been working), maybe not having to take off the leg to sit more than 15 or so minutes or in a motor vehicle (after and before figuring out how to get in and out, a recent process that makes me wish I still had my 18-foot-long two-door 1975 Chevy Caprice), and perhaps switching the walker for a cane. (If I had any coordination maybe I could do cane-twirling tricks, but I would likely hit myself in the face or head in the process, and I could stand fewer, not more, doctor visits.)
Maybe for some people summer is a time to take it easy. For those in my line of work, well, take a look at The Week on page 1B in this and coming weeks. Local fans of breakfast (the most important meal of the day, as those selling breakfast have claimed, and my stomach has always agreed) have two local choices thanks to the relatively recent innovation of the June dairy breakfast. I covered Grant County’s first, in 1988, back in the middle of the Midwest’s 2½-year drought. They’re important not just because you need food first thing in the morning, but to show those who (think they) live nowhere near farms how their food starts its trip to their table.
One of my favorite parts of summer is the local live music scene. The Main Street Program Music in the Park concerts are off and running, and the annual Make Music Platteville is coming up two Sundays from now, to name just two live music opportunities. There is nothing like being able to sit outside on a nice summer night (even if you are covered in bug spray) and listen to live music. (Which is one reason I am absolutely opposed to replacing the current Daylight Saving Time with standard time, the alleged “God’s time.” “Alleged” because a clock’s hour hand says whatever you want it to say, and to me late nights where there is still a hint of sunlight as the clock nears 10 p.m. are a good thing, whereas 4 a.m. sunrises are not.)
Unfortunately summer is not a break from politics, even if this were not an even-numbered year. (See the Letters at the bottom of this page and probably every issue until the end of October to the end of 2028.) That includes issues like data centers, opposition to which cuts across party lines, similar to wind or solar projects on farmland. Tom Still, whom I’ve read since I was, I believe, grade school (he once covered for the Wisconsin State Journal a Madison street fight broken up by, of all people, Elvis Presley), provides a perspective elsewhere on this page suggesting a bit of hypocrisy among people who use social media while opposing AI and therefore data centers, and noting that other countries don’t have the same issues Americans seem to have.
Perhaps Americans value their privacy more than other people. Perhaps Americans are tired of being told less than the truth by those in authority in other areas and now assume the worst from those in authority. Perhaps people in this area see wind farms and their one-sided contracts with land owners and either see or suspect the same thing happening with data centers. Read and judge for yourself.
