Hotter than the hinges of heck
Last week’s column ran with an error in it. I told of the loss of Mary Dal Cerro, a woman who, while not related by blood, treated me like family. Her son Jeff was my very best childhood friend all through grade school. I found out I incorrectly credited him with the Boy Scout rank of Eagle Scout when he only earned his Life Scout grade. Like a good Boy Scout, he asked me to correct this mistake. I should have said he was student body president instead, another of his many accomplishments.
The heat this week has been brutal. Moreover, I understand we have at least another two weeks of triple-plus digits going forward, holy cow! Every summer in Madera, the temperatures get into the hundreds and yet, I am always surprised by how hot it gets. I know we need the hot weather to raise the sugar count in our grapes and to ripen many other ag products through a process I can’t claim to understand.
While it does no good to complain about the weather, it is one of the safe topics to discuss. People rarely get indignant discussing the weather. Chatting politely about politics and religion is a very good way to end up in hot water. It rarely stays a polite conversion. Discussing the merits of Planned Parenthood is another really good way to infuriate someone who holds an opinion different from your own. My dark angel enjoys tweaking the noses of those who take themselves too seriously. I’m really good at that one.
I sometimes get emails from readers who disagree with some bit of banality I have espoused. My reply always begins “Thank you for reading The Madera Tribune.” The newspaper industry is still battling for an increasingly smaller share of the population who actually want to read their news printed on paper. What Google calls the Silent Generation, born between 1925 to 1945 and some Baby Boomers born between 1945 and 1964 still like to read newspapers. Too many people want to read all their news from the Internet. The news from the World Wide Web is convenient and the information is rapidly updated.
People who are news junkies are focused on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the lesser known televised chatter. They surf the web for the latest morsel of information. They also trip over a great deal of fake news in the process
. Our product is one that can’t be found either place.
Pictures of students and lists of their names from middle school promotions and high school graduations were a big part of our publications in June. Nobody else takes the time and space to publish this information.
Newspaper clippings are great material for scrapbooks and paper crafts. They also make for terrific bragging fodder to send to grandparents and other relatives.
Thank you to every person reading this. The Madera Tribune is a very important part of our community that can only thrive with the support of this community.
Stay hydrated and find a shady spot to hold up the next few weeks.
Have a great weekend.
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Readers, may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.
