Summer Vacation

The summer people are almost all gone now. They left by the boatload, their watches strapped back on their wrists, school calendars lodged in their minds, work reappearing like worry lines under the cosmetic of a summer tan. As if on cue, the light changed with the month. The soft summer haze lifted its comforting curtain. There is a September clarity now, a crisp, luminous, hard edge to the view from the porch. Even the atmosphere is demanding that we look ahead. Sometime over Labor Day, the conversation on the roads shifted as well, away from languorous reports about the weather and the state of the bluefish, to one insistent line of inquiry.

We want to see where you go and what you do on vacation this summer - and we'll pay $25 for each of the best 10 photos taken from Memorial Day weekend through Aug. 15 E-mail your photo (one per person) and a description of what it shows to: . Also provide your name, address and phone number. Or, mail entries to Bill Reed, Travel Editor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, P.O. Box. 8263, Philadelphia 19130 . Must be received by Aug. 15.

Nothing like a common enemy to make friends of historic foes. In Recess: School's Out, the principal and the cutup join forces against education reformers. In an America where rethinking education tops the national agenda, Recess: School's Out is a priority for moviegoers of all ages. Tweaking those of the William Bennett stripe for efforts to make school a year-round affair, the film's heroes are fourth graders united against a rogue reformer who would deprive them of that ultimate recess: summer vacation.

Hersey Hawkins won't have to wait until training camp to remove the stain of a poor playoff series from his memory. The 76ers will make him a part of individual workouts with the coaching staff in July, and he will become a major project when the team renews its involvement with the Southern California Summer Pro Basketball League. Hawkins, along with several other veterans and a small group of draft choices and free agents, will take part in the Los Angeles league for two weeks in early August.

You could call the Pennsylvania Legislature's summer vacation a time of sex, lies and sanity escape. Like school kids loose on too-hot days, lawmakers seemed summer-loco. No fewer than 10 legislators, including leaders in both parties, wound up in bad-news events from perjury convictions to piggishness with planes. There was the bizarre sex-photo scandal involving one lawmaker's wife, the odd case of the 10-ton generator, raw sewage and much, much more. "I'm as puzzled as anyone else," said state Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, a 23-year legislative veteran known for his Jimmy Stewart-like straightness.

Bill Hohlfeld went to Utah for his summer vacation. He flew out of Harrisburg with only an hour's notice, marched through airports single file with 20 other men, and when he landed in Salt Lake City two weeks ago, he was taken directly to the local junior high school, where he bunked out in the gymnasium. Hohlfeld, 27, this year used his two weeks off to fight the raging forest fires that are destroying thousands of acres out west. He was enlisted as part of the Pennsylvania Specialized Forest Fire Crew - District 17. "This seemed boring when I came back, that's for sure," Hohlfeld said last week as he raked through freshly tilled soil in Newtown Square.

The obstacle to really letting loose on Labor Day is finding a reason to celebrate the end of summer vacation. There is, of course, the true meaning of Labor Day - offering a tribute to the many contributions of the nation's workers. Unfortunately, most of us don't even think about that, even with a yearly pro-union parade to mark the occasion. So we're left trying to put false smiles on sad farewells to grilled hamburgers and picnic-table umbrellas. Saying goodbye is so much easier at a Labor Day shindig or an old-fashioned ethnic festival.

With Labor Day weekend approaching, children can count on one hand the remaining days of summer vacation. To make the most of the last weekend before school begins, take a look at the following events planned throughout the county. The activities are listed by municipality. BENSALEM. Philadelphia Park race track is conducting its annual Pennsylvania Derby Family Festival rain or shine from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Children and adults can enjoy horse racing, a petting zoo, pony rides and entertainment.

COURTS Kensington Strangler trial Antonio Rodriguez, who told police he raped and strangled three women in 2010, will face justice for those crimes when he goes on trial Monday. Rodriguez, 23, who came to be known as the alleged Kensington Strangler, chose a nonjury trial, an expedited format that could wrap up in a few days. The three murders in November and December 2010 stoked women with fear in and around Kensington until police were able to link Rodriguez to the attacks through DNA evidence.

The hollering startles me awake. "It's a great morning for skinny dipping!" I open one eye, and my froggy voice can barely croak out, "What time is it?" The answer comes from my equally comatose roommate on the bottom bunk below me: "5:25 a.m. . . .. I think. " She sighs. The ruckus continues right outside our door, with the offenders showing no concern for those of us still sleeping. Their voices get louder. My eyes are now wide open, and I know they will not close again until late that night.

It's the middle of July and it's hotter than hot outside. Perhaps you haven't taken your summer vacation yet, but it isn't too early to start thinking about your winter getaway. Here are the 10 Best Winter Trips of 2012 from the editors at NationalGeographic.com. Sorry, they didn't rank them. Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan Lake Placid, New York Cuba Namibian coast Chiapas, Mexico Antarctic Peninsula Miami Fernie, British Columbia Palm Springs, Calif.

Let's suppose you could dramatically boost the academic achievement of America's poorest children simply by sending your own kids to school during the summer. Would you?   We already know that disadvantaged kids fall even further behind during the three-month summer break, and that summer school can help them keep up. But we also know that programs aimed exclusively at the poor will inevitably face cuts or elimination, especially during economic downturns. For an example of this, look no further than Philadelphia, where only 10,000 students will be enrolled in summer programs this year — down from 19,000 last year.

It's time for the 5th annual Readers' Summer Vacation Photo Contest. This is your opportunity to show where you went and what you did on vacation this summer season, May 26 through Labor Day, Sept. 3. We'll pay $25 each for 4 of the 5 best photos. The photographer of the winning photo, as selected by readers on philly.com/travel, will receive $100. We want to see sunrises and sunsets, water-skiers and zip-liners, mountain hikes and campsites, and of course maxing and relaxing.

AMSTERDAM - The Dutch parliament has summoned Prime Minister Mark Rutte back from summer vacation to re-debate the bailout package for Greece that European leaders agreed upon July 21. Opposition parties have complained that Rutte initially presented the package as (euro) 109 billion ($154 billion), including contributions from banks, but it later emerged that amount did not include the banks' share of roughly (euro) 50 billion more. Parliament is in recess until September, but its finance commission had a hearing Wednesday.

Three months. Twelve weeks. Ninety-plus days. More than 2,000 hours. Yet inexplicably, summer's expanse of time seems to increase the pressure on parents to do something special with it for their kids. There's camp, afternoons by the pool, a visit to the grandparents, and the annual trip to the zoo. But what about that flash of summer quicksilver, the "Wow!" moment they could put at the top of their back-to-school essay, the thing that would one day allow them to say, "Remember that time . . .?"

NEW YORK - If September is what first comes to mind when considering new television shows, there are some 82 reasons to think again. That's the number of new programs that have or will premiere on cable networks post-Memorial Day through August, based on an informal survey. That doesn't even include existing series that are starting new seasons (HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," USA's "Burn Notice," etc.) or new programs on broadcast TV (NBC's "Love Bites" and ABC's "101 Ways to Leave a Game Show")