Cadet in the red sash

The hard lessons start on day one. Also, 7 other things worth your time.

It’s the first full weekend of summer (sorry, Southern hemisphere readers), and I can’t remember a season that’s been as anticipated as this one.

I’ve got plans; I hope you do, too.

That said, every year around this time, I find myself remembering to look up a specific date on the calendar of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

It’s what they call “Reception Day,” or “R-Day,” the first day of a long summer, and a long four years, for the incoming class of new cadets.

This year, that day is tomorrow. Actually, it’s tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday, since West Point divided it into three days to allow social distancing due to the lingering pandemic.

Now, I didn’t go to West Point, but I wrote a book about the academy, and that project basically consumed me for two years. We also have quite a few subscribers here today who are alumni—not a coincidence. So I’ve felt a connection for quite some time.

Thus, in honor of the new cadets sweating away this summer at what I like to refer to as "H…