28 May Coping with Stay at Home
by Senior Center member Jerry Grajkowski
“The order certainly caught us all by surprise and the immediate nature of it allowed no time for any preparation. Here is a summary of the things I did to comply with the order and maintain my
sanity. Since walking was allowed and living near the Military Ridge Bike/Hiking Trail, I spent many hours there. I often walked far enough to the west to see the new high school. Before the leaves on the
trees broke dormancy, when I heard a cardinal singing, I could look to where it was singing and normally see it. Now the leaves do a good job of hiding the birds from view.
Since reading is a favorite activity of mine the library closure had a detrimental effect on me. Following a lot of prodding from my daughter, I finally took the plunge into library e-books which
was an easy learning process. When the site asked what device I was using and my Samsung Galaxy Tab A was not listed, I clicked on the “ask a question” tab. The next morning I had a reply
from the Verona library telling me my device was in the android category. Like a kid in a cookie factory I immediately pursued learning the e-book system.
Some recent health articles I have read suggested taking a short mid-day nap to recharge your body and refresh your mind. After evaluating that activity, I decided against it because in the Jerry
Apps book Rural Wisdom, he advised, “Don’t spend to much time in bed because most people die there.” That, plus not wanting to be easily found by the Grim Reaper whom I have already
fended off once, made me rule out that activity. Now with a cane always in my possession I believe I could more easily fend off the Grim Reaper than in my earlier encounter with him.
On page 9 of the May 2020 chronicle a list of activities to do while safe at home was provided. I modified the open a window and listen to the bird sing into a 24 hour per day activity. Nighttime
bird singing is primarily owls hooting. I don’t subscribe to the belief that owls only do the bidding of ghosts, witches and goblins. I prefer the fairy tale belief that owls are the wise forest animal.
Maybe their hooting is their way of telling other owls how tasty the last rodent they caught and ate was.
For those of you who attend Men and Women Talk, and those of you who plan to start attending, our first meeting after the Senior Center reopens will be what activities you undertook to
pass the time while safe at home was in effect. I want only positive activities brought out. Until then…Jerry