August 2022

From the day our children were born, my wife and I began saving for their college education. We took advantage of a pre-paid tuition plan the state of Maryland offered, making monthly payments until their 18th birthdays.

Due to a very fortuitous bounce of a golf ball, my wife and I won a free trip to Las Vegas a number of years ago.

It’s a beautiful late summer evening. The tickets were free, the beer is cold, and you’re about to sit down to what appears to be a great matchup between starting pitchers. Whether it’s Yankee Stadium, Minute Maid Park, or Camden Yards we’ve all felt that excitement of being part of a pennant race or wildcard chase. And then things go from bad to worse—an error here, a strikeout there, and suddenly your team is way down before they’ve even played “Sweet Caroline,” “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” or “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”

Have you ever visited Washington in August? It can be miserable. Today’s high is expected to be 97 degrees (the reading in my car was 103), with 60%+ humidity. Even pre-Covid, downtown D.C. felt like a ghost town during the month of August; the only pluses being you could finally snag a reservation at the city’s hottest restaurant or grab a decent tee time on the weekend.