No, I’m not talking about this year’s Major League Baseball All Star Game, I’m speaking of the weather here in Saint Louis.  It’s hard to find a contrary word about the weather that we have had this July.  This town has been blessed with a month of Michigan vacation weather without the ten-hour drive.  The average temperature in July has been less then seventy-six degrees.  The National Weather Service says this July is almost certain to be among the Top 10 coolest for the month in 130 years of reliable record-keeping.  This was all reported in Wednesday’s Post.

Earlier in the week this behemoth of a truck and trailer parked down the block.  I took a picture of it at the time, because I had just paid my electric and my gas bills for the month of July.  Normally my July electric bill is well over a hundred dollars, while normally my gas bill is well less then fifty.  This July, my electric bill was way down, while my gas bill was way up.  So much so, that this month my gas bill actually exceeded my electric bill.  I knew that it had been cooler out and with neither of the boys at home, I am no longer always turning off lights.  I also knew that last year when gas prices were sky high, the gas company had been able to push through a big rate hike.  I was just surprised by the combination of effects.

Then this gas company truck pulled up, big, brand new and pulling a back-hoe that looked like it has yet to kiss dirt.  He had just stopped to check on some neighbor’s gas.  The driver saw me taking this picture of his truck and when I remarked about how big it was, he laughed.  He said someone in the back office must have gone a little crazy when they ordered it.  Up until this truck, the gas company has always used rather ratty looking Step Vans, also known as bread trucks.  So this summer, I don’t really begrudge them their new truck.  I just hope that I feel just as magnanimous come this winter.

With the cooler weather I have gotten more biking in this month.  This week, I rode in the morning, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  I rode in the Park and rode fifteen miles each day.