Dear Readers,

Another week of feeling like I’ve been beaten with baseball bats every second of the day has come and gone. This morning we dropped Aksinia and Olga off at the vet to get spayed. They will no doubt be rather upset with us for the next few days, but I’m sure they will get over it. I have to say, they are a bit of a handful and seem to think that humans are a combination of a play toy and a jungle gym, particularly around 0300. I am glad we got both of them though, as they do play together quite a bit. They enjoy watching The Price is Right and Family Feud with me every day.

The baseball season has reached the halfway point. The Red Sox are the first team in the American League to hit the fifty wins mark, I do not hold out much hope of them reaching the World Series, or even the ALCS, due to their lack of quality starting pitchers, though Sale is projected to return later in the season. Having solid hitters is great, but you also kind of have to keep the other team from scoring runs to win. They also lead the league in come from behind wins, which, on the one hand, is good, but on the other hand, it makes you wonder why they keep having to come from behind in the first place.

My Summer 1 semester is almost over with. It will end next week. Then I have five or six weeks before I have to start back in person. I’m not looking forward to being crammed into poorly ventilated, crowded classrooms with no masks, unvaccinated people, and the Delta strain which spreads particularly easily among the college age demographic. Also, next week I have an appointment with the surgeon to go over the details of the surgery so I can make a final decision, though to be honest, I’ve already made my decision. Unfortunately, I don’t see any way that I can avoid having the surgery in the middle of the fall semester which will be a gigantic pain in the ass, not to mention a pain in the parts I’m having operated on.

By August I will have spent basically 18 months isolated from the world, apart from doctor appointments during which I always have a mask on. I figure that being back in crowded conditions in the fall will mean that I will suffer from a variety of colds and my usual fall bout with bronchitis which, oddly enough, I did not have in the Fall of 2020. Having to determine if said symptoms are benign or the Rona will be interesting to say the least. I daresay I will not be the only one playing the “Is it a cold or is it Rona” game.

I am hoping that once Summer 1 is over, I can turn my full attention to Molly’s sequel. I also have a semi-creative way to celebrate the July 29^th release date of Molly’s Song. I am going to get a new tattoo (it’ll be my fourth). This one will go on my right forearm. Then I’ll be balanced out with one on my left bicep, left forearm, right bicep, and right forearm. I abstain from alcohol, so there will be no celebratory champagne or the like, though I probably will enjoy a Maduro cigar.

I do plan on keeping the Pandemic Year series of entries going until I start back to work in person in late August. After that, the website will shift back to what it was before the Rona…mainly a place where I talk about writing, history, and writing about history, with occasional forays into Russian Literature and history crushes, of course.

Speaking of history crushes, on July 17^th I will be attending a vigil mass for Maria and her family at a nearby Russian Orthodox Church. Nearby is relative as it is about 45 minutes away. It is a beautiful church though. I’ve attended the occasional service there in pre-Rona times. This will be my first time there and only my second in person service at all since the pandemic started. The good news is that I also haven’t had to go to confession this year! Then again, having spent a year and a half in my room, it’s not like I have much to confess in the first place.

Until next time, Dear Readers, take care of yourselves. And each other.

L.H.