One of us has a son who lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their three-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with Covid last week, along with the rest of her class. Say goodbye to day care for another few days as Mom and Dad struggle to work from home, barred from even using the elevator to go outside from their sixth floor co-op with their active toddler. Day care teachers kindly provided online circle time and projects for the little ones. Try leaving a three-year-old alone to make binoculars out of paper towel tubes. Papa to the rescue!

Last week, when the Nor’easter knocked out the power in many homes on the North Shore, a trip to Starbucks to take advantage of their free Wi-Fi and do some work seemed like a reasonable idea. What a surprise to find the local, usually busy, Starbucks closed with a sign that read something like, “Sorry for the inconvenience...

Election Day is next week, Tuesday, November 2, to be exact. We know it isn’t a presidential election year and only two gubernatorial positions will be decided (in New Jersey and Virginia), just two US House of Representatives seats will be determined in special elections (for vacancies in Ohio), and no US Senate races are on deck. Here in Massachusetts, there are only three ballot questions, all in Boston. So, unless we live in any of these places, why should we vote?

Pew Research conducted a survey of more than 10,000 US adults last month to get their thoughts about COVID. Here are 10 facts that Pew discovered from this survey:

The Olympics usually provide great entertainment, inspiration, and the kind of wow factor we all need these days. And while the appearance of Simone Biles and other luminaries may raise our spirits, we are confronted daily with the spectre of more and more athletes dropping out because of positive COVID tests. Instead of providing inspiration, the Olympics are bringing us face to face, yet again, with the dire reality that the pandemic is far from over.

In a survey released on March 17, 2021, Pew Research provided an analysis of survey responses to questions about Americans' views and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new Pew Research Survey conducted from February 16-21 among 10,121 American adults shows that the majority of Americans plan on getting the COVID-19 vaccine or already have. The survey revealed that Americans are more positive about trusting the vaccine than three months ago, and believe that getting vaccinated will improve the economy.