It was 40 years ago and I was looking to a summer like no other. Ever since the summer before the eighth grade, the hallowed time between the end of one school year and the beginning of the following school year had been cut agonizingly short. In the 1960s, summer vacation was a full three months long — 13 weeks in which to bask in the reality of no school. Until the eighth grade.

So here, as if on cue, it being a new day and all, came the Obama administration Monday to announce new arrangements for the way the country does business.

The car pulled out of the driveway and headed for downtown with an unsuspecting rider: one green grasshopper asleep on the windshield — if grasshoppers actually sleep. I don’t really know if they do or don’t. I’m not a grasshopper.

In an age that values cleverness over wisdom, it is not surprising that many superficial but clever books get more attention than a wise book like “The Character of Nations” by Angelo Codevilla, even though the latter has far more serious implications for the changing character of our own nation.

Philosopher Bertrand Russell suggested that “Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.” And, it was Albert Einstein who explained, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

It started just like the real life TV shows, in which a child disappears and frantic family members look everywhere for him. Weeping relatives beg for his return and deputies hitch up belts heavy with walkie-talkies.

Scene: The Fayette County Commission goes behind closed doors for an executive session devoted to “personnel matters.”

Too many men and women have needlessly suffered.

Too many witnesses did not get it right.

The judicial system can break down.

There is something about dirt roads that whistle to me like a siren’s call. A dirt road beckons and I answer. I cannot resist its allure.

A statue of Ronald Reagan was unveiled last week in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda at a time when many Republicans, and even some conservatives, think Reagan’s ideas are passe. Before moving on, Republicans, and those conservatives who don’t want to “live in the past,” should be asked what better ideas they have to offer.

I was at the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 3, for the dedication of the statue to President Ronald Reagan. I was there because Bill Clark was there. Judge Clark, as readers of my material know, was Reagan’s closest and most important adviser.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is widely regarded in the media as the ultimate authority on climate change. Created by two divisions of the United Nations, and recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, its pronouncements are received as if they come down from Mount Olympus or Mount Sinai. The common presumption is that the IPCC has assembled the best scientific knowledge.

June 1 marks the start of hurricane season. Watch this space: Odds are a mild hurricane season will be blamed on ... global warming. Odds are an active hurricane season will be blamed on ... global warming.

We’re enjoying having our son home for the summer after completing his freshman year of college. One of the things we’ve missed when he’s away is the crowd he brings home with him. It’s not unusual to have four or five guys spend the night at the last minute, or pop in to watch a ballgame. Recently, a late night game of Monopoly developed that lasted into the early morning hours.

Welcome to the People’s Republic of San Diego County.

According to an article on HolyCoast.com, “A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold Bible studies in their home.”

Even at 82 when most fathers believe their job is done, my dad is still teaching me. He doesn’t mind my daily phone calls. He listens attentively to all that is going on in my life and hands out advice in his own unique way. In the past I’ve seen it as controlling and prying, but now I know that isn’t what it is. I see it now as love.

In Washington, the clearer a statement is, the more certain it is to be followed by a “clarification” when people realize what was said.

“See the USA in your Chevrolet.

“America is asking you to call.

“Drive your Chevrolet through the USA.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international comparison of 15-year-olds conducted by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that measures applied learning and problem-solving ability. In 2006, U.S. students ranked 25th of 30 advanced nations in math and 24th in science.

This column may be troubling, but I promised you I’d warn you.

Be warned.

On the last weekend before local high school graduations, a Fayette County elected official got caught doing what you might expect from a tiny minority of high school seniors: Toking while trucking.

The “greens” must be thrilled with the new Obama/Pelosi/Reid (OPR) troika in charge of the federal government. Three times already, the troika has blocked the development of domestic oil resources.

Down in Milledgeville, Ga., there is a lovely woman named Sophia who is a fan of this column. In turn, she is a supporter and friend of mine.

With wide-eyed naivete, proponents of high-speed rail are pointing to service in Europe and Asia as reasons that such networks are the next great thing in transportation for the United States. But Americans will travel a lot further on the hype over President Obama’s pledge of $8 billion in economic stimulus funds for high-speed rail than any money will go.

By KIMBERLY LEARNARD

As federal stimulus dollars find their way into Georgia, we should all keep a close eye on where the money goes. Take a look at www.recovery.gov and click on the map to see what Georgia is doing with a few billion dollars. Among other projects, roads get $932 million and public transportation gets $144 million.

Last month, I wrote about meeting God with the sum of our parts, our scars, our wounds. It’s how the resurrected Christ appeared to his disciples — showing them the wounds left from his resurrection. It gives us hope that we, too, despite our wounds and our sins, can still share in that resurrection. This month, however, I’d like to focus on a time when there is healing from disability.

The coming contest, fight, whatever, over Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation to our country’s top court gains context from the California Supreme Court’s 6-2 decision the same day.

It is one of the signs of our times that so many in the media are focusing on the life story of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Hot off the press is my colleague Dr. Thomas Sowell’s 43rd book, “The Housing Boom and Bust.” The book is an eye-opener for anyone interested in the truth about the collapse of the housing market that played a major role in our financial market crisis.

When I was a child, my father would often say to me, “Son, no one owes you a living.” His intention was that I would know that I was responsible for my own life and, should I get married and have children, my own family. Evidently, Dad was wrong. Everywhere one looks it seems that an incredible number of people believe that other people owe them something — especially a living.