Here’s a little idle chatter for you as we round the turn on the far side of 2020 Downs. Down the stretch we come.
Reading about the plan to repave and refashion Lynnfield Street in Lynn sometime next year doesn’t exactly fill me with tidings of comfort and joy. Parkland Avenue, which has been under construction for almost a month, is still stripped down to gravel, the heads of the manholes sticking up, making it necessary to drive in the same manner as a skier in the Olympic slalom event.
The rotary at the top of Federal Street, which was begun before the summer started, is not done yet and the street is blocked off. But there is progress. Repaving was being done Tuesday. That’s obviously a good omen.
Also a good omen is the fact that the weeds were finally dug up Tuesday on the traffic islands downtown around Oxford and Andrew Streets. But the rest of it is still a mass of cones and curbing (but no sidewalks). This project, like the rotary, has been months in the making.
No offense, City Hall, but let’s step it up here. Lynnfield Street is much more ambitious. And if it turns into a similar boondoggle, motorists are going to revolt.
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The big news coming out of the upcoming debate between President Trump and Joe Biden is that the mics for one will be turned off to allow the other to answer questions unimpeded by horrible manners.
Imagine that? This is what we have to do now.
Personally, it wouldn’t bother me if they shut all the mics off and canceled these debates. And all other debates. They’re useless. Nobody ever answers the questions, and the candidates are so brazen about it they can obfuscate with their eyes looking straight into the camera.
Besides, is there anyone who isn’t firmly committed to either Trump or Biden? If you’re still in the coin-flipping group, you are clearly unable to make even the easiest decision you’ll ever have to make.
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If I had to classify myself one way or the other, I’d say I support the Black Lives Matter movement 100 percent, and also support any effort, by anyone, to draw attention to the opioid crisis.
But I draw the line at dumping used needles on the governor’s front lawn. Memo to people who do that: all causes need public support to get anywhere. And you’re not going to get it by pulling that kind of a stunt.
Charlie Baker lives in a house, as do I, and as do millions of other people, including, one might suppose, some of those protesters who stood there and watched someone dump needles on the governor’s lawn.
Come on. Wise up. You won’t get anywhere doing that.
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With such a huge amount of attention placed on COVID-19, let’s remember that cancer is still the killer to end all killers. And cancer has defined my 2020 more than anything else.
To anyone who has it, and to any family that has to watch a loved one die of it, you have my profound sympathy and profound respect.
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I’m convinced Tom Brady and Bill Belichick needed this split. Right now, Brady seems to be ahead right now in the ongoing debate over who was more responsible for the Patriots’ dynasty, but Belichick is tireless and fearless. Don’t count him out. About the only thing, at this point, that might get in the way of the Patriots’ reload is the NFL, which insists on having a season with COVID all around us.
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And speaking of which, one very big way we can learn to live with COVID, since it doesn’t seem to be going anyway, is for people to stop being stupid. Seriously.
Wear a mask, Wash your hands. Keep your distance. And stay home if you develop even the slightest cough — at least until you’re tested. It may take a little longer to starve this bug, but starve it we must. You can’t count on a vaccine, much as we’d all like to.
But we can’t spend the rest of our lives in a cocoon either. Let’s at least unite long enough to come up with a solution to what should be a non-political problem.
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It was after that last line that I did a word-count check and it came up 666. Not good. I don’t want ol’ Beelzebub coming after me.
Just having written that last paragraph keeps me out of the devil’s crosshairs. Let him stay in Georgia.
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There are so many reasons autumn is truly the Frankie Valli of the four seasons around here. The trees are gorgeous and oh, for that first night football game with a chill in the air, where you can see your breath. It sounds weird, but anyone who’s been there knows. Maybe next year.
But the real reason is that Cortland apples are in season. Cordlands are somewhere in between the tartness of McIntosh and the syrupy sweetness of Red Delicious, which are hard to bite into, and make my mouth dry as a bone.
They’re just right.
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Enjoy your fall, plan a safe Halloween if you’re inclined, and stay safe from the madness.