Sigh

Sure, we're in the dog days of summer, but you can't stay inside that air-conditioned house all day. To ease the swelter of outdoor living and create a more gracious setting for backyard activity, you might want to consider: A lighted overhead fan for evening entertaining. With its heavy, freestanding base, this Frontgate product is tip-resistant and will provide a gentle breeze while dispersing flying insects. If the air is moving but the mosquitoes are driving you crazy, slip Frontgate's zip-open mosquito netting over the sun umbrella and keep the pests out. Say you want to create a stylish, semi-sheltered space for alfresco dining.

The Schuylkill behaved like a considerate houseguest Friday. It mostly kept to its banks, did not spill anything, and did not overstay its welcome. But along the banks of the river in West Norriton, in a riverfront community called Port Indian, it did send water into the yards of a half dozen homes west of Port Indian Road. For most residents, though, the water's presence was a nonevent. "We dodged a bullet," said Allan Gehret, who built a stone home along West Port Indian Lane along the river bank in 1991.

9:49 p.m. Gov. Corbett said he plans to tour parts Pennsylvania damaged by Sandy but didn't say where or when. He said more than a million people in the state still lacked power and three hospitals in eastern Pennsylvania were relying on generators. Five deaths so far have been blamed on the storm. Overall, he said, even with the storm still zigzagging across the state, the recovery has gone faster than expected. "We are breathing somewhat a sigh of relief. I'll be breathing a bigger sigh of relief when power is back on. " - Amy Worden 7:53 p.m. Gov. Christie tonight said fresh water is precious and should be used primarily for drinking and food preparation and not other things.

Five! Four! Three! Two! One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! The year 2000 rocked in with a roar in Times Square last night as a shoulder-to-shoulder throng of more than a million revelers let out a thunderous collective shout of joy under a dizzying blizzard of confetti, streamers and balloons. In the end, the naysayers had it wrong. The world did not end, the terrorists did not rule. Even the cops were smiling. At 11:59 p.m., high atop 1 Times Square, a shimmering lighted ball of 504 pieces of Waterford crystal began its pulsating 60-second slide down the 77-foot flagpole.

Sigh, whisper. There's nothing like taking off the old footwear and lolling around in the azalea garden behind the Art Museum.

By Ann Packer Knopf. 225 pp. $24.95 Reviewed by Susan Balée All summer I've been reading new fiction for an omnibus review to be published this fall. All summer I've been meeting characters with quirks (saints, savants, and jerks), exotic settings (from India to the South of France), poetry slumming as prose, narratives with verve, but nothing - until now - that really struck a nerve. Ann Packer's Swim Back to Me reminded me of why I fell in love with literature in the first place.

It's still too early to breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to Phillies starter Joe Blanton. But the righthander looked sharp and was in command of his fastball Tuesday night during his first rehab start since straining a muscle in his left side near the end of spring training on March 31. Blanton pitched two flawless innings for the Lakewood BlueClaws, giving up no hits and only throwing two balls against the single-A Hagerstown Suns...

He was wasting away before our eyes, so many viewers may have breathed a sigh of relief when Harvard Law School student Nick Brown, hollow-cheeked and 20 pounds thinner, was voted out this week's on Survivor: The Australian Outback. Quote of the night: "You had plenty of stuff. If rationed properly, you had plenty of rice," said host Jeff Probst, scolding contestants for wasting food. Colby won the immunity challenge, successfully building a fire, then lighting a fuse by filling up a counterweight of water.

West Chester Henderson field hockey coach Kim Jackson is trying to find a way to get her team back in the scoring column. The Warriors, who have a key Ches-Mont League matchup with Downingtown at 3:45 p.m. today, have not scored a goal in their last three games, although they have outscored their opponents by 21-12 overall. In their last outing, the Warriors lost to Springfield (Delco), 2-0, and saw their record drop to 7-6. "We didn't have the trouble [scoring] earlier," Jackson said.

Academy Park has not been noted for its field hockey program, but first-year coach Lisa Trainer is trying to change all that. "I'm hoping that we can turn the program around," said Trainer, who also is in her first year as a special-education teacher at the high school. The 1992 Haverford High graduate was an assistant coach with the Knights last year. "It's going to take some time," Trainer continued. "We have a very young team right now with only three seniors. We're predominantly sophomores.

Nittany Nation could finally exhale Friday after receiving word that Penn State coach Bill O'Brien had ended his brief flirtation with returning to the NFL as a head coach and announced he would be back on the Beaver Stadium sideline in 2013. Neither O'Brien nor his agent, Joe Linta, responded to requests for comment. In an interview Friday with Steve Jones, the radio voice of Penn State football, O'Brien, a former offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots, said NFL teams, which he did not identify, "reached out" to his representative.

9:49 p.m. Gov. Corbett said he plans to tour parts Pennsylvania damaged by Sandy but didn't say where or when. He said more than a million people in the state still lacked power and three hospitals in eastern Pennsylvania were relying on generators. Five deaths so far have been blamed on the storm. Overall, he said, even with the storm still zigzagging across the state, the recovery has gone faster than expected. "We are breathing somewhat a sigh of relief. I'll be breathing a bigger sigh of relief when power is back on. " - Amy Worden 7:53 p.m. Gov. Christie tonight said fresh water is precious and should be used primarily for drinking and food preparation and not other things.

It is these two letters - U and N - that make the whole difference. The legal challenges against the euro bailout fund were "predominantly founded," said Andreas Vosskuhle, chief justice of the German Federal Constitutional Court, on Wednesday. Then, within a second, he corrected himself: The challenges were "predominantly unfounded . " With that, Germany became the last country to ratify the contract creating the European Stability Mechanism. The court's decision provoked huge relief for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, other European countries, and, to a degree Wednesday, the financial markets.

Question: A good friend of mine is living with a guy, "Adam," whom I can't stand, to the point where I try to avoid hanging out with her when he's there. My husband and other mutual friends feel the same. It's not just that he's a jerk; we can see he's totally controlling of her as well. She seems to sense that he rubs people the wrong way, and asks me from time to time, "What do you think of Adam? You can be honest. " Or asking what my husband thinks of him, in the same way. I usually flub my way through it because I feel terrible telling her I don't like him at all, but I can't lie. Should I be brutally honest with her?

By Ann Packer Knopf. 225 pp. $24.95 Reviewed by Susan Balée All summer I've been reading new fiction for an omnibus review to be published this fall. All summer I've been meeting characters with quirks (saints, savants, and jerks), exotic settings (from India to the South of France), poetry slumming as prose, narratives with verve, but nothing - until now - that really struck a nerve. Ann Packer's Swim Back to Me reminded me of why I fell in love with literature in the first place.

August has been thrown under the bus. On July 25, with the kiss of summer warm on our bare skin, the Federal Citizen Information Center posted its first the-end-is-near warning for parents. "Summertime will be winding down signaling that back–to-school time is near. Here are some things to consider before the first day of class. " The agency then advised "easing" the family back into the new school year by establishing a bedtime routine for children, planning meals a week ahead of time, and adjusting household chores.

A Lively History By Peter Toohey Yale University Press. 224 pp. $26 Reviewed by Katie Haegele One summer I worked for a temp agency, and they sent me on a retail assignment at a chichi home design shop. Starkly white and mostly empty, it looked like an art gallery and got about as much foot traffic. Technically I was a sales clerk, but they were using me mainly as a deterrent to robbers, so they didn't train me to do much. For the most part I just stood there, all day long.

The Schuylkill behaved like a considerate houseguest Friday. It mostly kept to its banks, did not spill anything, and did not overstay its welcome. But along the banks of the river in West Norriton, in a riverfront community called Port Indian, it did send water into the yards of a half dozen homes west of Port Indian Road. For most residents, though, the water's presence was a nonevent. "We dodged a bullet," said Allan Gehret, who built a stone home along West Port Indian Lane along the river bank in 1991.

Marcus Fox has faced "Road Closed" and "Detour" signs at 27th Street and Schuylkill Avenue with daily disdain while heading to work at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "The past two years have been extremely rough," Fox said. "We all have literally had to adjust our lives around one missing bridge. " Whether driving, walking or taking SEPTA, thousands like Fox have been forced to use time-consuming detours to cross the Schuylkill between Southwest Center City and University City since reconstruction of the South Street Bridge began in December 2008.

It's still too early to breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to Phillies starter Joe Blanton. But the righthander looked sharp and was in command of his fastball Tuesday night during his first rehab start since straining a muscle in his left side near the end of spring training on March 31. Blanton pitched two flawless innings for the Lakewood BlueClaws, giving up no hits and only throwing two balls against the single-A Hagerstown Suns...