{SQT} Quiet July Takes-A Summer Theme

Last summer at this time, our calendar was a blur of events and lines indicating camps, vacations, festivals, local events, etc. Now, our July is practically empty. Despite months of cancelled events, I still can’t get used to all the white space on our calendar.

We did learn that our town will have it’s annual Our Lady of Mt. Carmel festival on the 16th, though greatly scaled down. There will be no carnival rides, but the procession will still be a go! In case you missed last years post- for the procession they take ALL the statutes out of the Catholic church in town and parade them through the streets on small rolling floats. Last year, our family sat along the main street to watch, give donations, and collect holy cards. It was awesome.

We’re going to attempt returning to Mass this Saturday. We don’t have any other July 4th plans, and since the Vigil Mass at our parish is usually less crowded, I’m hoping it will be a safe way to ease back into regular attendance.

Yesteday we went to the local zoo. It was hot, and we went near the end of the day so it wasn’t crowded. It’s actually a really shady park, so it’s not a bad place to be even in the summer. The park was blocked off in a one way loop type design, so it was easy to socially distance from people and most people wore masks. It was nice to get out as a family. Of course, all the family time we’ve had since March has been wonderful, but I’m especially happy to share time with everyone outdoors where the yelling doesn’t seem as loud. Being out somewhere also means I’m not in the kitchen being angry or hiding in the bathroom with my phone, which is also nice.

Next week I’m hoping we can make a day trip to the beach. I have no idea how it will go, not so much related to all the COVID stuff, it’s just a lot of work to go now. Teddy is really too heavy to carry onto the beach, or sit on the sand, so I need a plan for getting everyone onto the beach, into the water, and making sure there’s help for transfers, supervision, etc. while also making sure everyone can actually have fun, not just worry with helping Fulton and Teddy. We might (???) need another beach chair for Teddy, but I’m not sure we have room in our van to transport two chairs, so that means coming up with another solution. I have some ideas and I’m just trying to convince Tony that it will be fun for us all and not a ton of hassle. Fingers crossed!

I learned there’s giant bats in the Philippines (I think Addie was WAY too happy to share the news with me) and of all the things 2020 has released, I feel that monster bats are what is finally going to drive me over the edge. How much longer until they migrate to New Jersey?

Ugh. I guess that’s it. I don’t have anything to add on the greater state of the world today, and there’s not much going on otherwise. I’m busy all the time, but it’s not blogworthy. When inspiration strikes me, y’all will be the first to know. Have a happy 4th of July in the meantime. And link up your Quick Takes below. Be sure to include a link back to this post so your readers can find the rest of the Takes. I look forward to reading your posts!