4 July 2014: Friday ... Independence Day ... Wimbledon semis for men ... World Cup quarters ... a lightning-bug lit ascent at Carousel ...

I should always attempt to write something, even if I'm unwilling, as I seem always to be at the end of the day and all I want to do is dull my senses in front of the tube, because something will come of it (the writing that is) and discipline has never been my forte, in fact, my debilitating and calamitous weakness throughout my working and academic life. When will I learn?

Today was overcast, initially, part of the remnants of Hurricane Arthur, which apparently showed its mettle on the NC coast and elsewhere to some degree (i.e., winds reached 100 mph, et al.) but here, no rainfall and mild winds, and by close of day and my early evening/dusk walk with Dancer, the sky was clear and a hemi-moon stood in the early night sky. 

Bryan Wilson, owner of Miller’s Waterfront restaurant, braves floodwaters to check the damage to his property as wind from the Hurricane Arthur pushes water to his parking lot in Nags Head on Friday, July 4, 2014. Arthur struck North Carolina as a Category 2 storm with winds of 100 mph late Thursday, taking about five hours to move across the far eastern part of the state. HYUNSOO LEO KIM — THE (NORFOLK, VA.) VIRGINIAN-PILOT VIA AP

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/07/04/3984271/fast-moving-hurricane-arthur-pummeling.html#storylink=cpy

We watched tennis and I actually enjoyed a semi, where one of the old guard, the #1 seed Novak Djokovic, who I like but am tired of in the finals, all the time, played a great match with the unseasoned but up-and-coming Bulgarian with a name starting with "D" and 8 letters (No. 11 Grigor Dimitrov) like the famous Serb. But alas, it was not to be. Experience on centre court won out and Novak took two tie-breakers from the young upstart, but he will be heard from. The era of Big 4 is being challenged. And Federer, closing in on 33 and now with two sets of twins (his boys just born two months ago) will be the other finalist, the 35th time that Novak and Roger have met in tournament play.

On the World Cup soccer front, let's see if I can recall. Germany slid past France, 1-nil; and the match of the tournament, Brazil-Colombia, was a nailbiter with the host hanging on at the end after a penalty kick made it a one-goal lead. Unfortunately, Neymar, Brazil's soccer star is out with a serious injury -- he fractured a vertebrae on a hit, that I must admit and apologetically so, I thought he was faking. They always dramatize their falls and this looked similar but he is out of the tournament and hopefully he will be able to recover to play again. Thoughts of healing to the young, vibrant Brazilian futbol star.

Well, it will be Germany-Brazil in one semi on Tuesday and the other semifinalists are being decided today, Saturday.