Summer humidity is here; cue the sweat
This past week has been hot and humid here in the Cape Region, which is great for visitors going to the beach, but bad for people like me who aren’t, and who break a sweat simply stepping outside.
This time of year, when working, I have to prepare appropriately more than any other time of year. I don’t care how cold it is outside; I know I’m going to be fine. However, this time of year, in fear of sweat rings around the neck of my shirt, I always have a sweat rag.
Sometimes I need more – much more. For example, it was 90 degrees and humid the night of the fireworks in Rehoboth Beach this year. This is an event where I go into town early and take pictures of people beforehand – photos of fireworks one minute into the show look a lot like photos of fireworks 10 minutes later. This means walking around town. And with all the visitors, it means I’m probably not going to get a parking spot close to the action. In anticipation of all the walking, I packed an extra shirt, two sweat rags, a rag that’s been wetted so I can wipe my face at some point and a full-sized towel in case I really get the sweats. I’m a casual dresser, so I feel obliged to do the best I can to not also be a sweaty, casual dresser.
Annoyingly, the excess sweating can rear its ugly head year-round. I don’t mind a spicy chicken wing, but I rarely eat them in public because they’ll make me sweat any time of year. My wife gets endless enjoyment when we get wings from the Miltonian because their mild-sauced wings are called Sissy Style, and she’s more than happy to point that out.
Anyway, if I see you out over the next couple of months and I’m sweaty, I swear I’m fine. I appreciate the offering of water, but I’m pretty good about hydrating.
Piping plovers have more pull than Joe Biden?
President Joe Biden is scheduled to be in town this weekend. When he last visited – the weekend of Father’s Day – he flew into Dover and drove south on Route 1. I was told the reason he did this instead of flying to the Gordons Pond parking lot – his typical style of arrival – was because the state didn’t want his entourage to take over the whole parking lot on one of the busiest days of the year. I don’t know this to be 100% true, but it sounds reasonable and was probably the right call.
About a week after Biden left, the state issued a press release saying an 800-foot portion of the beach at Gordons Pond would be temporarily closed for the protection of a piping plover nest. According to the state’s announcement, it’s the first piping plover nest in this area since 2016.
I don’t have any real observations about a piping plover nest closing a section of the beach, but I do think it’s amusing that the president probably had to change his travel plans, while the piping plovers get to live it up on prime real estate for as long as they want. I can envision the Far Side comic now.
Joke of the Week
It’s summer, and after writing about how much I sweat, I feel this joke. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.
Q: What did the pig say on the hot summer day?
A: I’m bacon.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories, random stories on subjects he finds interesting and has a column called ‘Choppin’ Wood’ that runs every other week. Additionally, Chris moonlights as the company’s circulation manager, which primarily means fixing boxes during daylight hours that are jammed with coins, but sometimes means delivering papers in the middle of the night. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
