Well, it has been a while...4th of July in fact. Bucky always said "After the Fourth of July the summer is over" and she was right. Here we are past the middle of August. First there was vacation...staying in the cottage Ria and I shared two years ago. The weather could have been better, but all in all, it was good. Then we got back and had to get ready for the Wacky Raft Race, which we did last Sunday. Sunday was hot, and we got there about 8:00 - the earliest time they suggested. There were some concerns with one of the volunteers (not a good start) but then things came together as strangers volunteered to help us. One man who was waiting for a friend helped Tony get the raft out of the truck and helped him assemble it. Then another man who had a trailer helped us get it in the water - a distance of several yards that would have been a hard carry. Then we got in the water and the tide was going the wrong way...north, not south. Almost immediately, we were being carried to Albany. That's when another stranger offered to tow us to the starting line...almost a mile away. Good thing, because the tide didn't turn even after the race started. People were walking faster than four of us could paddle. After 3 hours we arrived at the finish line, coming in 10th. 2 more finished after us, and 6 dropped out and had to be towed. So, I'd say we did pretty good. No permanent injuries from rowing. I was complaining the next day that my left arm hurt "from holding the umbrella all that time" - pretty selfish, huh? Anyway, there were a lot of mistakes in the running of the affair, mostly the timing because once the tide changed, things were 100%, no 200% better. Apparently, Laura was not happy with the way things went. The next day she called the Green County Tourism and gave them her opinion and what it was like -"worse than labor." Sabra called up the Tourism people to get our time, and the woman said to her, "What team were you with?" and when Sabra said TeamRia, the woman declared that she would not talk to anyone from TeamRia that she just had got off the phone with Laura after 45 minutes. Well, this made me laugh and laugh and laugh some more. TeamRia will probably not be allowed on the west side of the River for some time. But that was that. Now I have to finish my embroidery of an apron for the Dutchess County Fair that has to be handed in on Saturday. Dear God, please let this summer end.