Did June feel like one long day to you? It did to me. I guess when you don’t do anything exciting, the days turn into weeks and then the month is up, just like that. Other than covering the local graduations and the heartache of losing my father rather quickly, June 2020 will not be remembered as a month to write home about. No Windjammer Days, no boat rides … just enjoying the better weather and getting covered in browntail moth caterpillar hairs after the last mowing job. And staying safe from the coronavirus.

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The Fourth of July is this weekend. Maybe a family cookout? Distancing while watching Paul Coulombe’s fireworks show? Who really feels like celebrating with the virus still with us? Do I sound down to you? Sorry if I do, but working and not getting out to enjoy summer like we’re used to (maybe it’s been the rain the past two days?) has made me feel a bit grumpy. Soon, July 2020 will be a distant memory.

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To the positive: Our dog, Lacey, a mini Australian shepherd, has kept my wife and me very entertained since the Ides of March. I usually walk her three or four times a day down Back Narrows Road. Those walks are a treat for her. She hears cars approaching a half mile away. Then she either sits, or hunches down to “attack” and bark at each car or truck that goes by. I have to hold her leash taut or she’ll run in the path of the vehicle. So enjoyable. Also, Lacey does not like to see any dogs or cats on TV. When she does, she jumps off the couch, grabs one of her toys, shakes it, and growls.

Life in the coronavirus era! Be safe and have fun whereever you can find it.