Summer, the Short-Timer

Summer continues for the time being. The day was hot, and the night is full of cricketsong. The Summer Triangle is still high. But the days will cool, the crickets are singing about their doom, and Orion and his Dogs will replace the Swan, the Eagle and the Lyre before long.

"Pretentious" might not be the right adjective for Granta (see yesterday; just a throwaway comment). I'll have to read one of the issues I bought for pennies and reassess it, since it's been about 20 years since I read the magazine. Mostly I remember some of the travel writing from that time. The issues I picked up were from the mid-90s, one about "The Sea" and the other called "News."

This from the New York Times: "With five children, including an infant with Down syndrome and, as the country learned Monday, a pregnant 17-year-old, Ms. Palin has set off a fierce argument among women about whether there are enough hours in the day for her to take on the vice presidency, and whether she is right to try."

A fierce argument among women? Really? Or just some women down the hall from the writer? Anyway, the vice presidency would seem to be the perfect job for a busy mother, considering that it has but one requirement, presiding over the Senate, and that's only if the Vice President feels like it -- the President Pro Tem of the Senate does much of the day-to-day work, such as it is. Vice presidents may or may not do certain things on behalf of the president, but really the vice presidency per se has few responsibilities, unless something happens to the president.