Here is what I did on my summer vacation. Or, rather, here is what I learned during my summer vacation.
$$$$ – The trend in the modern world is if you want to have fun, you have to spend money. Similarly, if you didn’t spend $$, you could not have had much fun. Poppycock to all;
DISCOVERY – Best new discovery of the summer in the land of Zip Code 04074. The Eastern Trail for bike rides, or walks. Enter at Black Point Road, just down the hill from Route 1, or from Pine Point Road, near Marsh Nature Center on Pine Point Road. Do it on a sunny day. Gorgeous, elegant experience;
SEAFOOD IS “B” FOOD (At Best) – I have been surprised to learn that most seafood offered in Scarborough is horrible. Two or three places do things well. Most don’t. Come on, guys. This is Scarborough. Imagine going to Venice and eating lousy pasta?
TRAFFIC! – We do a decent job with routes, roads, traffic lights. You move OK in traffic. The problem, increasingly, is parking lots, and turning into and out of businesses from busy streets. Suicide missions!
BASEBALL AND CHESS – There is a lot of baseball to watch in Scarborough for fans. High school ball. College-aged kids. Adult ball. Little League. But Scarborough is no longer a good baseball town. Our attention span is short. We want to swing, swing, swing!! And hit, hit, hit! Both kids and adults.
I met a l7-year-old kid this summer had never been given a take sign. Memo to fans show me a kid who never takes a pitch, and I will show you a kid who, if he were playing chess, he would lose his Queen in the first 35 moves. No patience;
WITHER THE WEATHER – We seem to have a lot of mixed weather. Hot, cloudy, sunny, hot, humid, rain, etc. etc. I like the variety. Many don’t. (Don’t worry, this is not a commercial for climate change political views!);
TV – I am surprised how many people still watch a lot of TV in the summertime. Many people need to get out of town, or up to a lake, to actually spend an evening without the boob tube on. Unfortunate;
POLITICS – Yikes! It used to be when I was in politics in the l980s-90s, the summer season was a “truce” between politicians and voter-citizens. Not anymore. Nationally, we got bombed this summer with presidential stuff. And on the state level, Governor Phineas T. Bluster has no on-off button;
DOGS AND CATS – I have no good stats, but I have a gut instinct that we have more pets in Scarborough nowadays than we did, e.g., 10 years ago. They are everywhere – beaches, ball fields, even the mall. People like pets. Kids like pets. That is the good news. The bad news is we are going to pet stores. Thousands of dogs in animal shelters needing a home or… We need to get the word out;
VISITORS AND RELATIVES – It used to be that holidays were the times when you would spend time with people even if you despised the (relatives at Thanksgiving e.g.). Now? I think that time has become summer. Shocking how many people come into town to visit Scarborough residents, even though, in some cases, I know, the parties do not dig each other.
Hope you enjoyed summer, too. Have a lovely fall!
Dan Warren is a Scarborough trial lawyer who can be reached by private Facebook message at the Jones & Warren Attorneys at Law page, or by email at jonesandwarren@gmail.com.
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