We’re O.K. on sports, too. National Football League training camps are under way and the Redskins have welcomed back their quarterback, Robert Griffin III, early from injury. The Nationals even stink a little less.

Yes, the city government is under a cloud, but our local scandals are still eclipsed by those roiling Manhattan. (Oh, hi New York. Also, are your subway stations air-conditioned?)

Also, let’s talk about the crabs. “Oh, we got beautiful crabs, baby,” said Chester Ford, the chef at the Moruss Seafood and Crab House in Southeast Washington. “We have jumbo, medium, all of it. August is about prime time for crabs.” Traffic at the crab house slows a bit after the 15th, Mr. Ford said, “because the kids are getting ready to go back to school, you have to be careful with your money this time of year.” But sometimes the lines still form. It’s that way.

Restaurants generally are easier to get into during August, another joy for those still here. You still can’t snag a table at Le Diplomate, the new French bistro on 14th Street, this Saturday night, but there are some 8 p.m. spots available next week. The lines at Little Serow have not lessened, but the bar at BLT Steak beckons with empty seats downtown.

If Washington feels full in its own way even as it empties in August, that may be because fewer people here are tied to the ways of Congress and the White House. Since 1970, the number of workers employed here by the federal government has fallen seven percentage points, to what is now a mere 27 percent.

“If you look at where the growth has been, it has not been in federal employment in the District proper,” said Jonathan Rothwell, an associate fellow at the Brookings Institution who is an expert on the local economy. “There has been huge growth in the tech sector, at universities, in medical-related business and business professional services. So there is no reason for everyone else to take a vacation just because men and women from other parts of the country leave to go back to their districts.”

So buy the tech dude sitting next to you at your local watering hole a beer, preferably one made locally. That’s gotten better here in recent years, too.