What's your go-to for sanity during COVID-19 times?
Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)
Posts: 23,514
For me it's bicycling and kayaking. No sailing, though, since it's impossible to socially distance on the boat I share with partners (26' T-bird), and I'm not up to soloing it. For entertainment, I've been reading Hemingway short stories outdoors after dinner, then sinking to old "Perry Mason" or "Beverly Hillbillies" episodes before bedtime. Ah, the golden years of TV! 
And then there's this with my morning coffee:
https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee
Curse me now; thank me later! (Or vice-versa.)
-Phil
And then there's this with my morning coffee:
https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee
Curse me now; thank me later! (Or vice-versa.)
-Phil
Comments
Another big fun is messing with the horses. I’ve got a Suffolk Punch mare that stands 16/3 hands and is 1850 lbs. She has feet the size of a dinner plate. She is very gentle with people. (With other horses... not so much). When she comes thundering up the ground literally moves. Her grand entrances at meal times never get old!
The last sanity-keeper is beekeeping. If you havent tried it, it is highly recommended, and you can easily do this in the city too. Hives are a fascinating system that must be seen to be believed. My hives are mostly wild-caughts so they are quite “hot” (Africanized) so full PPE is a requirement, but this diminishes the fun not one bit. Watching the ebb and flow of the hives connects you in a different way to the surrounding environment. The pollens and nectars being collected change constantly... even differing from sunrise to sunset.
COVID sure hasnt been a picnic, but there are silver linings to most clouds if you take the time to look for them.
There are reports of a resurgence of C-19 in my part of the UK but I was talking to a managerial type with the National Health Service and he was quite disgusted. He told me that our big hospital has two patients, neither of which have been on a ventilator and our smaller hospital has zero patients.
And @JRoark from your description, I believe she can be best described as a beautiful horse.
Oh, and we are trying to adopt this puppy now. Rescue pets are in big demand during Covid, waiting lists and approvals and red tape.
I'm waffling on adopting another cat. It's been nearly eight years since Browser's passing. On the one hand, having a cat now would be great. But I've got to consider the long-term consequences. A cat could last me until I'm 90, and I have to consider whether I could still properly care for one at that age. Plus, cats get kind of expensive once they're over 15 years old, as I've discovered. Still and all, they make great companions.
-Phil
All in all, 2020 has been nothing short of insanity. Last night, after topping 109 in Northern California, we had a tremendous thunderstorm that rocked the town between 12 and 1am and then dumped rain for 15 minutes. Get back up this morning to 81 degrees and stinky humidity. What's next? On that note, this video really hits home with how this year has gone. I am not sure if I had a birthday in April, so I might still be 47.
Explaining the Pandemic to my Past Self by Julie Nolke
Your twins are growing up so fast. Our annual trip to see our twins is off this year - should have been there now
I like the one in the christmas hat.
You could consider adopting an adult cat, then it might not be as much of a worry about care when you are 90. However, there is the issue of dealing with another loss sooner than later.
My cat Dixie is almost 19, and probably on her last "life". She's deaf, going blind, and sleeps a lot (even for a cat).
Yes you should, @"Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)" . However, we spent an interesting time with the two who lived with us, (Father and I, in the house we owned for many years previously.), then the younger of the two followed him down south. That big black cat made it for a long way along. Now? Let's just say everything is good.
I'm still as I posted working and working. Oh and including Perry Mason.
Now that's a good cat photo. Which of the two suggested it? Be careful!
Ray
I must say I very much like it now. I hate all the usual buzz.
Getting to the initial question, my to-go activity these days is learning the P1 and participating in this very forum. BTW, it's my first ever experience with any forum at all as a member.
I must say, I enjoy it. I've seen other forums too but those were an absolute no go.
Some friends and I did that back in 2003. As far as I can tell, I was the first person to fly an electric paraglider - on the very same morning that they were replicating the Wright brothers' famous flight at Kitty Hawk. My flight lasted a little longer than theirs but not by much. We tried again a couple weeks later with ~50% more power but we broke a prop when it caught some lines.
@erco Your cat on top of the chair looks nearly identical to one we had for 21 years, Madison. Best cat in the world, just loved being part of our family and never a single health issue. When we took her in for a check up near her passing, the vet didn't believe she was that old, she guessed about 5, and gave her a spotless bill of health.
I walk, read, and play my banjo ukulele for sanity (with me, that is a relative term).
Need robot pooper scooper!
@Frank, I don’t know about races happening now. I remember there was big excitement around catamarans on San Francisco Bay a few years back, America’s Cup, Oracle vs team NZ. A big come from behind based on some technical magic. My son has a Hobie, but it is a fishing kayak. No racing except for fun!
Mike