Summer is here to stay, at least for a couple of months. The new pool is wonderful. The sand filter has done a great job cleaning the water. Right now the water is crystal clear. The pool came with a pool vacuum that works great cleaning up the bottom of the pool. The pool is so big I can actually swim a few strokes and I have been swimming on the bottom with my speedo goggles. The gas grill is also working well. We have been grilling and eating on the deck almost every evening. I took off Friday from work so we could go see the Virginia Parade of Sail that starts Harborfest this year. We got a great view from Point Comfort on Fort Monroe. There were over 50 ships in the parade with many of them sailing ships. I shot some great video which I posted to my other blog. We also had a free lunch with some ex NFL players that was hosted by Fort Monroe. After all that we went shopping in Phoebus, which is just outside the gates of Fort Monroe.

But summer is not all fun. I have been working very hard in the yard. Actually Teresa has been doing most of the work. She has planted shrubs and flowers around the pool and in the gardens in the front and side yard. I have been mowing and trimming and putting down truckloads of mulch. Today I am watching STS-117 as it gets ready to dock with the International Space Station. The shuttle flights will be ending in 2010 with the completion of the ISS. After that there will be a delay of several years before the next generation of manned space vehicle, Orion, is ready to fly. As someone who grew up watching the manned space program from Mercury to Gemini and Apollo, I am looking forward to the Orion and the eventual return to the Moon. It is about time.