That’s right, the year has gone by that fast. The mornings are already at their earliest, but there’s still increasing daylight to be had by the lengthening sunsets until Saturday, when (here in Phoenix) we lose a second of daylight.

To me, it’s not the end of June that delineates the first half of the year from the second half, but Goodboys Invitational weekend. Sure, that’s still four weeks away, but it just seems like the height of summer then. And once you get past Goodboys weekend it’s time to start making plans for the dwindling days of summer and the onset of early Fall.

Here in the Valley of the Sun, it’s “officially” monsoon season, but the reality is that you don’t get the first hints of monsoony until there’s a noticeable increase in the humidity around July 4 or thereafter. They’re saying that the first half of monsoon season will be dry, but that we’ll get above-average moisture in late August and September. That would seem to jive with Weatherbell.com‘s Joe Bastardi, who says there will be more tropical systems forming closer to the East Coast and the northwest coast of Mexico than normal. We’ll see.

A few other items on my mind…

This past weekend’s U.S. Open was enjoyable to watch on TV because of scenic Pebble Beach, but I’m guessing most folks found it to be a snoozer because neither Gary Woodland (congrats to him!), Brooks Koepka, or Justin Rose are exactly what one would call colorful personalities on the golf course. Truth be told, they’re all kind of robotic in their approach to the game and their efficiency – which, BTW, I’m guessing is why they played so well at Pebble.

…contrast that, say, with the likes of the swashbuckling Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, who got treated rather rudely with their “go for broke” mentality. Which is why, I reckon, most folks enjoy watching them play.

…while on the subject of the U.S. Open, the FOX broadcasting team of Joe Buck, Paul Azinger, Curtis Strange, and Brad Faxon were awful. I hate announcers who tell you something you can see for yourself on the boob tube in front of you. They brought zilch, nada, nothing to the telecast. Case in point: Tracey noticed that Tiger Woods had the top of at least one strip of KT Tape (she knows it well!) showing on his neck above his shirt. Now wouldn’t that be newsworthy? I mean, you’re not relying on KT if you’re feeling in tip-top shape. If Tracey could see it, you’d think the bozos actually being paid to point out interesting things to their audience would as well.

…but all this does is reinforce my opinion that the media – and it doesn’t matter if they cover politics or sports – are as dumb as rocks. And ESPN’s Mike Tirico is the epitome of that. He’s a joke. I’m still trying to figure out what he thinks he actually brings to golf telecasts.

I happen to find quite persuasive Larry Schweikart’s analogy of today’s national debate over abortion to the nineteenth-century national debate over slavery. Modern technology has overwhelmed the original, now grossly primitive, concept of “women’s choice” and abortion on demand. That was all well and good before you could see the amazing evidence of God’s hand at work in the womb; increasingly, the advocates of abortion on demand are going to have to face the fact that anything after the first trimester is akin to the destruction of a human being. And women – and their male counterparts – are going to have to actually start taking responsibility for their lifestyle choices.

…which is why, like socialist babe Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (and Texas senator Ted Cruz), I support the sale of over-the-counter contraceptives. Anything we as a society can do to reduce the number of abortions is a good thing. Of course, the vile ghouls who both work and financially support Planned Parenthood would disagree.

Gee whiz, President Trump, it’s about freakin’ time. What took you so long?

Ditto.