Roundup of July 2020 Posts

July ends today. As of next week, we are:

  • Weeks away from school opening (maybe)
  • 37 days from Labor Day
  • 95 days away from the 2020 Presidential election
  • 5 months away from a viable Covid-19 vaccine (maybe)

Anything Can Happen

Empty Fenway Park, Covid-19, Pandemic, 2020 Posts

Empty baseball park

This year, almost anything can happen in between now and then. Major League baseball opened late and feeble and shows signs of closing down before it can reach first base. The NFL season may or may not actually begin and, if it does, some of its most important players will probably sit it out. Thanksgiving will definitely arrive despite the fact that fewer families will get together, especially if gathering requires airplane travel. Ditto with Christmas.

Where do we go from here? We take it day by day, adjusting to our new, more circumspect lives and accepting a flatter, less exciting immediate future. That vaccine—any vaccine—can’t get here fast enough for me.

News from the Great Bunny War

Cottontail Rabbit, bunny, 2020 Posts bunnies, garden

Chowing down on a stalk of phlox

If you’re curious about how my new Zovenchi solar-powered animal repeller is working in the war against the bunnies, I can report that the marigolds have actual flowers for the first time in months. Tomatoes are ripening unmolested by small teeth and ravenous appetites.

I’m still spraying liquid repellent in the perennial border but thinking about adding another high-tech device to keep the critters away from the flowers, too. Gardeners hate watching a rabbit neatly detach a stalk of phlox, then sit and munch it from top to bottom. Or finding that your gorgeous blue hydrangea blossoms have vanished. Or watching that new perennial get eaten down to nothing.

Report on the Lobster Roll Front

With Massachusetts at Phase 3 and most people wearing masks, my husband and I have been able to conduct a personal review of local lobster rolls as well as those offered by one more distant restaurant. Currently, my score, from best to worst, is:

  • The Clam Box, Quincy MA – Roll packed with lobster meat. Comes with a generous portion of fries and some cole slaw. ($27.00) The fried clams, not my usual order, were outstanding. It’s on Wollaston Beach, so it comes with a water view and outside seating but the Clam Box is right on the road, so the ambiance gets only two stars. It was really, really hot that day.
  • Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough, Noank CT – Decent-sized roll comes with chips and a small side of cole slaw. ($18.95) Nothing to write home about or make me want a repeat. Located on the water with a marina alongside and outdoor seating with a sea breeze. For ambiance I give it three stars. But when I pay almost $5 for a bowl of clam chowder I want more than a shallow half-filled Styrofoam bowl.
  • Legal Harborside, Boston MA – An overpriced, under-stuffed roll. Not much lobster in a small roll for the money, It comes with a tiny container of slaw and excellent fresh-made chips. ($32.00) On Boston Harbor with outdoor seating and an outdoor upper deck. Ambience alone is worth four stars. The food, not so much.
Legal Harborside, Legal Seafoods, Seaport, Boston, 2020 Posts, lobster roll

View of Boston Harbor from Legal Harborside’s roof

And what’s the deal with restaurants cheaping out on cole slaw? Cabbage and carrots are cheap and big machines make short work of shredding. The dressing is even easier. This is just a stupid way to save money.

Roundup of July 2020 Posts

Is life slowing down or picking up? Between summer, Covid-19, the upcoming election, working from home, and living without sports, I feel like we go back and forth. Wherever you are today on the pandemic spectrum, here’s your chance to catch up on July 2020 posts by category and author.

Animals

Boston and History

Business and Technology

Environment

Health and Safety

Lifestyle and Culture

Spiritual

 Fasten Your Seatbelts

Pandemic, Covid-19, changes, turbulenceAnd into August we go. Bring your seats to an upright position, raise your tray tables and fasten your seatbelts. I have a feeling events are going to start moving faster and I expect a bumpy ride for the next few months. With all the upheaval we have felt in the first seven months of 2020, it’s hard to imagine that it could get worse.

If we have learned anything this year, however, it’s that there is no bottom, there are no rules, norms don’t apply and we’re not all in this together. Warning: Turbulence ahead.