By custom, design and sometimes necessity, this is the time of year when the beautiful people – be they feds, journalists, politicians or their horse-holders – take vacations.

They (the beautiful people) say that this is the time of year when the truly beautiful people take their vacations. They go to places like Jackson Hole, Martha’s Vineyard, the Hamptons and, in the DC area, Ocean City.

So if you are reading this, and I am typing this, what does that say about us? Are we less than beautiful or are we simply dedicated to our jobs? Or broke? Or both.

The July-August time frame is a tough one for folks who like to keep up with the news. Reporting can get a little silly and, during an election year with the 24/7 news cycle, many of us get enough about some of our elected leaders who are spending lots of time, other people’s money, and campaigning while still on the payroll, so they can get reelected. Or elected to something else.

When it comes to the silly season, we bow to no man. Or woman.

A recent column about the summer attire in some federal offices, making them look like the audition room for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, brought in a ton of e-mails. We ran some of them and will go with more because they are so funny and often, insightful. The theme running through most of the correspondence is that it’s great to be comfortable, especially in hot weather. But letting it all hang out makes many of the RHS’s coworkers uncomfortable.

Also if you are planning a vacation to the Washington, D.C. area, or you live here and want to know where and when to go here’s a tip: Washington, D.C. is the place to be especially when Congress is gone, which, this year, is most of the time. July and August can be miserable here. But it can be even hotter and more humid in St. Louis, Houston and Phoenix, even though “it’s a dry heat!”

But many of us can take the heat because it depopulates the town of beautiful people who up-close-and-personal can be real ugly at times. They include: Members of Congress, their staffs, lobbyists and lawyers to circle Capitol Hill, many diplomats and some of the most pompous members of the media. When they are gone you can get a table at almost any restaurant, you don’t have to listen to their cell-phone calls, etc. Driving is easier because schools are out and many of the self-important, thoughtless people who make driving a nightmare here are scaring the wits out of locals in other locales.

So if you are working today, what’s it like. How’s traffic? Are the roads freer of horn-honkers and impatient-to-dangerous types? Do you wish the beautiful people would stay wherever they are for a couple more months? Who votes for an endless summer?

Nearly Useless Factoid

According to the kids’ page on the US Patent and Trademark Office’s website, some trademarks are embodied in sounds, scents, and other formats that cannot be represented by a drawing. This includes the giggle of the Pillsbury Doughboy and the smell of apple cider.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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