How To Spend Your Summer Staycation

Photo: On a doll spotted at a French flea market, a perfect expression for the times: bored, stir-crazy, and panicked, all at once.

Readers, we've got to talk (too bad we are too many to zoom!). Now that we have a new world order thrust upon us, and the fortunate ones have the luxury of a lot of  time on our hands, it's time to make a Plan. 

I know many of you have work,  family, and maybe financial obligations that are overwhelming you at the moment. My heart aches for you. But some of you are, like us, are among the lucky ones, with leisure time to spare. And if you're like me, you're finding it a bit hard to focus, with all the anxiety floating around in the air.

Here, then, is a list of things which have helped us, or which others have suggested.  They include ways to help yourself, your family, and to help those less fortunate. Now, please share YOUR best ideas for keeping your sanity intact, in the Comments, section.

 

1. Our new favorite thing: Facetime Happy Hour. Just the two of us and a couple of friends.  We made a long list of friends and we do one session every day, with the ones we normally see, the friends far away, friends we've lost touch with. Tip: to make it more of an "event", we schedule a day ahead with them, then at 5:30 we get our wine glasses we sit down for a nice, long "face to face" chat. 

art by Tom Vieth

2. Drive to a pretty place--a waterfront, a forest, a park, a wilderness trail, or a quiet neighborhood you don't know well, and take a long walk.

3. Make a list of nice things you can do for your neighbors. One of our neighbors knocked on doors with a big basket of cupcakes. I took some spring tulips around. And so on.

4. Feeling out of control? Organize! Tackle your closet, your pantry, your drawers.

5. Be kind to your devices, they've taken on a new importance. Set up that new playlist, or house-clean your apps, clear off unwanted photos, pick a new screen saver.

6. Cook something new, if you like to cook. Cook something new, if you don't.

 

7. Brush up on your French! Or learn any new language, or skill.

8. You've got lots of career and life experiences. Teach a facetime class to some kids in your life. Their home school teacher will thank you. 

9. Plant a garden. Get some chickens. 

 

10.  Foster a pet! People are still dumping pets at shelters, in greater numbers--yet donations are dropping. They need help, and YOU need a new companion to make you smile. Fostering a bunch of kittens or puppies is really fun. But beware of Foster Failures, like Vino the Bambino. 

Take us home, please

 

11. Volunteer. This is a tough one. I'm still looking for good solutions. Something one can do at home? Something local? I've discovered a small church charity that caters to  the poor in the immediate area, so I'm hoping they can help me find a needy family to feed for a while. Here are lots of  ways you can help or donate.

12. Audit a University course. There are tons of possibilities out there, for on-line learning. Here are some free courses from Harvard, for example.

13. Stream a broadway play, or a symphony. We've been watching Broadway plays on PBS Passport, and the weekly free Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals.

14. Could there be a better time to brush up on your skills for fighting fair with your spouse or co-quarantiners? Learn to argue properly with  those irritating family members. Find help here, or here.

15. Fluff up your decor. Yes you can! I've furnished a bedroom in the last month, just with on-line or curb-side pickup resources.  Lonny (an on-line magazine) has some tips on how to refresh your space. 

16. Make some masks. My clever sister has already made 120, which she donated. Complete with pocket for a filter.

 

17. Eat lunch or dinner in a new spot everyday, something I learned from my neighbor Marion in France, who is famous for holding dinner parties in every room in or around her house, including her guest room and the stair landing (read A pop-up Café in our Village).We are in a small house here in Charleston (but with lots of rooms), so we alternate between the dining room, breakfast room, terrace, and living room. I guess the office is next. And don't forget the candles, flowers, and a rotating playlist.

 

Dinner chez nous

 

For southerners only, and for game lovers: I just bought a trivia game based on southern culture, called Bless Your Heart, to play with our kids on facetime. And if you're not a southerner, well...bless your heart. You can check out these other alternatives.

19. When you're really bored, do as Ron does: put a chair in the driveway, get a glass of wine, and chat with everybody who walks by.

20. Start a blog!

21...OK, your turn! What are you doing for fun/to be helpful/to stay sane?

 

 

 

Comments

[Rachel Matthews]

Since the world has become a quieter place, the birds are louder than ever. I’m trying to learn them by their songs, since I can’t spot them easily in the trees when I’m out for my morning walk. Some are easy to identify, some have so many different calls that it’s quite a challenge for me. I suppose this falls under “learn a new language “, but it’s different and I’m having fun. There are apps...

[Chris]

Well I have been through the blog a couple of times and I think the best option for me is #19

[Doris Wolfe]

Love your blog. Great ideas!
Bloom where you are planted comes to mind...with the beauty of spring surrounding us and the renewal of life in le jardin it’s a great time to be outside.
😷

[Kathy]

My friends and I Zoom three mornings a week in lieu of our former coffee visits in town. We have anywhere from 8 to 15 people on. It is good to see faces. I have become an exercise aficionado including walking thru my neighborhoods and downtown, something I never did before in 33 years of living here. I walk to the local lake to see all the birds and gaze across the water. I have become deeply involved in social media and love it and have met many wonderful people. I have baked more and eaten more but then I am exercising so..... I am not cleaning out anything - no desire..... yet, but find I am feeling very content and good overall. I am also caregiving for my husband but it has been good for me to be a better person.

[Tom Berry]

For the last two weeks, we have had a family video conference on Sunday afternoon. It replaced the Sunday dinners we used to have together but it’s fun reuniting family in Atlanta, Tampa and me in France. I’m also teaching a class online on French grammar and common expressions. It started because classmates where I was taking my French classes were having difficulty due to their lack of background in grammar. Since most of our instructors at the school don’t speak English, this created an opportunity for us to come together and ask the questions we need to ask in order to further our knowledge. Today I completed session 12 and it’s going well. We meet for 90 minutes and have a lot of fun together. Because you learn as you teach, I’m getting a lot out of it as well. It also keeps me busy during the week planning and organizing. Fortunately our confinement is due to end May 11. I’m looking forward to being able to get a haircut!

[Vicky from Athens]

A great list of things to do! I have been doing yard work and cleaning closets slowly. If I’d made good use of all this free time I’d be through with everything that needs to be done but alas, I have ADHD and spin my wheels, jumping from project to project without ever completing one. One thing I’ve been amusing myself with is relocating the squirrels that have overrun my yard! I use a Havahart trap and when I catch a squirrel it’s literally “over the river and through the woods” to your new home you go! I take it several miles away and release him/her into the woods. If you don’t take the squirrel several miles away to release, it’ll return to your yard. I’m fortunate to be able to put a river between us. I smile every time I hear the trap door slam shut and smile bigger when I open the door to release it.
I’m also continuing my art class on Zoom. It’s not nearly as good as being in the studio but it keeps me in touch with my art friends and it’s fun.
I look forward to hearing what your other readers are doing.

[Connie]

We are learning how to make sourdough bread! The challenge is finding the flour which tells me that a lot of people must be baking a lot! The best part of the process is the number of steps it takes which makes the day go faster -- on second thought -- the best part is the heavenly smell that permeates the house as it bakes!
I am also working on sewing projects that I never found time for prior to being self isolated. Thanks Lynn for your great ideas!

[Anne Daigle]

Pulling weeds in our South Louisiana yards. Since we had only one cold snap last November, the weeds are crazy. But Pulling them does 2 things--I can take out any aggressive feelings on them (Die! weed, die). After all Voltaire"s advice for impossible times was to "cultivate your garden". And 2- I do not have to do the hamstring stretches my doc had prescribed. Bending over for t he weeds takes care of that.

[Heather]

Hi Lynn,

Since baking ingredients are in short supply, I’ve started experimenting with different types of ice cream. We are near a lot of farms, so fresh eggs & dairy are not a problem. So far, I’ve made vanilla with guava paste swirls, blueberry and my latest, peanut butter & chocolate.

Heather

[Debby Woods]

Love your ideas. I am on a happy hour chat with my childhood friend in Texas. It really helps...the wine and chat!
Stay safe.

[Frank Levin]

With the virus we would be in Pays Basque right now. Instead we are home and for the first summer in 21 years we will be home all summer long. Thus my new adventure is watching things grow. Planing good things to eat or se is something I have always done, but they often grew in my travel-induced absence and sustained by my automatically run irrigation system. I would try to visualize what three weeks of growth would look like while I traveled and suffered garden envy all over France. I was always astonished by the amazing growth during the wonderfulness of summer. Now I visit each plant each day to see how it is growing. It sort of reminds me of marking my kids' height on the door frame. Right now my potatoes are growing about an inch over night and another inch during the day. Amazing. The tomatoes are coming out of the greenhouse windows and into the ground today. As seedlings they have been putting on1/8 inch a day. Once they hit the ground they will race ahead of the potatoes. The onions are a bit shy. They poked out ten days ago and are just starting to get the hang of getting big. Yesterday, between rains, I planted 100 gladioluses to make July bright. Enough. I need to go check on the basil.

[Natalua]

Lynn,these are not only really good tips but helpful and timely,as well.Plus those beautiful pictures!!THANK YOU!!
The only thing I could add would be: establish a daily playtime ,(or two!or three or more!!)with your pet!!We can learn so much about joy from them,not to mention acceptance and making the most out of whatever we get stuck dealing with.Their unconditional love just wraps itself around our hearts!
I also like to read aloud to them--the online courses I take,or poetry or novels....they look at me with comprehension,and for some reason,there is something very soothing about hearing my own voice(rather than just in my mind)

[Mary Sayas]

I’m a Charlestonian also and live on James Island. I have a big place with an overgrown woodland garden, so with the help of a dear friend I’ve been pulling vines and clearing brush. The results are wonderful to see and the physical activity is a great stress reliever. It will be good to get back to normal though and be able to go out to dinner again, and gather with friends!

[Mariella Neumann]

Thanks for all your tips Lynn, I have 3 lady friends living alone so each morning we WhatsApp and check in to say that we are all ok.
I have started a movie club with 3 girl friends ( just like a book club) and each Friday we Zoom and discuss for an hour about the film we watched, some have been very good and some not so good .
My daughter who is living with us makes Michael & I do 3 things each day we have to tell her each morning ..It’s quite challenging as some days we just want to do nothing.
My fitness challenge to do 10,000 steps every day.
Stay safe and healthy Lynn & Ron .

[elizabeth foree]

Hola Lynn! You scared the bejesus out of me with your experience with the plague. I was hospitalized with pneumonia in 11/2019 I collected all your suggestions in case we both developed covid-19 symptoms. Since we all love food on this blog, I wanted to share a universal calming ingredient, CBD +THC....IN OLIVE OIL..if you can find it. I bought it from dispensary in San Francisco.
Can you recommend a "safe" european FaceTime site?