§ Throughout July our squash plants were all healthy and productive—the pattypans being a particular standout this year. Almost as soon as August hit all of their leaves began to get covered in white powdery mildew and fruit production slowed to a snail’s pace. This feels like a pattern I see each season. Maybe I should just accept cucurbits as early season vegetables. I’m noting this here mostly so that I can check back next August and see if my theory holds.
§ Now that the wedding and my summer travel is over I finally installed the iOS 18 beta. I have an iPhone 14 Pro which ineligible for any of the new Apple Intelligence features. Barring those, this is a pretty minor update.
The photos app was completely redesigned. I really like it. It offers a few new ways to surface buried photographs from my ever-expanding back catalogue.
If you thought rearranging Home Screen icons could be fiddly and frustrating just wait until you try customizing the new Control Center. Nevertheless, all of the additional functionality might make it my favorite change of this cycle. I added a static grid of all of my HomeKit lights, I added a shortcut that sets a four minute timer for steeping tea, it’s great.
§ In perfect contrast to my critique of Fallout, the new season of House of the Dragon is so packed with high drama and life-or-death stakes that it could really use some element of levity, no matter how small. As is, it can be kind of tedious to watch. It might be perfectly executed—the epitome of its genre, even—but it still can be a heavy lift to consider when settling down to relax in the evening.
§ I signed up for Peacock this week after the olympics ended to watch replay footage from the games. I’ve never been particularly interested in the olympics and I wasn’t even necessarily curious about this year’s olympics until just a few days ago when I finally got the itch to see what all of the fuss was about.
One immediate problem is that none of the events set to music are available on Peacock anymore. Notably that includes breaking and gymnastics, two of the sports I was most excited to check out. On the flip side that made for the opportunity to watch other, less famous games. Did you know badminton is an olympic sport? It is, in all honesty, thrilling to watch. Table tennis even more so. Pole vaulting is mesmerizing.
§ After trying bigos for the first time in Montréal I’ve made this recipe three times over the past two weeks. I’ve substituted the pork stew meat with ground pork, I’ve left it out entirely and doubled the kielbasa. It has turned out great every time.
§ Yesterday Caroline and I stopped by a flea market in our favorite tiny town nearby. We bought some delicious sourdough and talked to an artist that carves little birds out of driftwood. What more could you ask for from a bright Saturday afternoon?
