Even as we send good wishes to Lt David Lydem for his retirement years, we were happy to read in last week’s Bee that Dave will continue to be custodian of Newtown’s famous flag. It is no small responsibility to be certain this longtime landmark is always in tip-top condition to greet the world as it forever goes by. We have other monuments and special historical things in town, but nothing is as special or as well-known as our famous and beautiful flag in the center of town. As long as Lt Lydem is its caretaker, we know it will continue to fly proudly.

The New England weather hasn’t been disappointing –– hot to cold and back to hot again. The past year has been one of breaking records. We should be used to it by now. Those chilly nights last week brought good sleeping that was welcome.

Susan and I went out for a “salad” lunch Sunday, and continued on to do a little shopping. I hadn’t visited the nearby pewter shop since it was enlarged and rearranged. What a surprise! It provided the gift we were seeking.

I also came home with a new garden clipper, something I have needed a long time. The forsythia bush is in great need of pruning. It has grown so much it is actually homely.

Joy called from Vermont the other day. The heat was so bad for a few days up there, she and David stayed in their camper, which is in a nearby town, and on a mountainside, where it is cooler at night. In all the years we spent summers in Vermont, only twice did the heat get really unbearable for a few days.

Scott, my grandson, spent most of Saturday here, helping a man with a rug-cleaning service move furniture. It is nice to get rid of all the “fallout” from the two months of work that was done to refurbish our condo buildings. The dust from the corn-blasting was everywhere, and it seems to be gone. They repaved the road in front of our yard and we had a bit of trouble with the black paving stuff that got tracked inside. To have all clean rugs is really a treat and to have such good help moving the stuff around was much appreciated.

July is half gone. August is always a long month it seems. Everyone tries to squeeze in the visits and trips that have been long planned but not taken. Mothers are contending with the children who will be coming home from camp, bringing nothing but dirty clothes. This is when the zucchini production in the garden overwhelms the pickers, the cookers, the canners, and the freezers. It is suddenly only a few days until the next school year begins and all the kids need clothes! And sneakers! It is time to get out to the berry patch and fill a big pail with blackberries; their jelly is one of the best. How to fit it all into the 31 days of the last real month of summer! Labor Day weekend is the real end of summer and the start of a new season.

The words at the end of last week’s column were by Mark Twain, who provided us with more quotes than anyone!

Who said, “There! I guess King George will be able to read that”?