Finneran: Summer Highs, Summer Lows

Friday, August 16, 2019

Tom Finneran, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

Tom Finneran

This year’s Red Sox team is a definite summer low. Lousy pitching. And little to no Cora magic to apply this year.

The Bruins loss to the St. Louis Blues happened in June, thus qualifying for inclusion in any list of summertime disappointments. The Bruins had a real chance at winning the Stanley Cup this year but let’s be honest, St. Louis outplayed them and deserved to win.

Brutal heat combined with brutal humidity put several sunny July days into the totally miserable category. A very definite low.

Here’s a recurring summer low----presidential candidates offering total nonsense in a bidding war to further bankrupt an already bankrupt nation. A very disappointing low from self-proclaimed leaders.

Presidential tweets on limitless subjects. Obama started it. Trump has carried it to a new high, which is a definite low. It is not “cool” or “hip” or “savvy”, although I fully understand the desire to bypass the Washington Post and the New York Times. Do I reveal how old-fashioned I am by publicly yearning for Washington, Adams, Lincoln, Grant, and Truman? Can you imagine the ever refined, virtually ascetic George Washington tweeting? Better yet, imagine Harry Truman’s singular catalogue of tweets: “Drop dead”@Harry.com!! I love Truman.

The struggle of Hong Kong citizens against their Communist China rulers is both a high and a low. It’s a summer low because we see and hear thuggish threats from a brutal regime that far too many people respect or even admire. Tyrants are tyrants. Let that not be forgiven or forgotten. It’s a summer high to see the courage of ordinary folks standing up to bullies. Pray for the ordinary folks who yearn to push the tyrant’s boot from their neck and the tyrant’s gun from their back………and while we’re at it, might we curtail the state dinners for thugs?

A few summer highs to consider:

Those delightful days of extended sunshine---early sunrises and late sunsets---are a definite summer high. Dawn’s early light for those 5:00 AM trips to the gym are a joyful summer high. As is the ability to throw batting practice to the grandkids even after 8:00 PM. This is a recurring delight which never gets old. I love summer daylight.

A personal joy this summer was a cruise of the Baltic, spending time in Stockholm, St. Petersburg, and Copenhagen. Those are three beautiful cities. St. Petersburg, of course, stands out. Given its history, its palaces, its churches, and its museums it is sui generis. Stockholm has water ferries everywhere and splendid architecture which some Boston developer might want to copy! In addition to being a highly walkable city, Stockholm has an O’Leary’s Bar which claims to be “born in Boston”. Needless to say, we stopped in for a libation or two.

How about lobster rolls, fried clams, and native scallops? A true summertime high. This too never gets old. And here’s an inside tip---try the Seafood Shanty right on the Route 6 Scenic Highway running along the Cape Cod Canal. The lobster roll is the best in the universe and the scallops and clams are off the charts. The mere memory of a stop at the Seafood Shanty will power you through winter’s blizzards.

A final personal joy and summer high---watching Finn McNeil and Kellen Mahoney help their team-mates win a Little League championship. They combined good hitting, aggressive baserunning, strong pitching, and steady defense into an undefeated championship run. It’s enough to make a grandfather brag and it was the best of 2019 summer highs.

Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio