Green light! Red light! Ah, you made it to the 6-foot line. You win!
Keeping your distance from loved ones can be difficult. I love to travel and visit people, but those possibilities are not available at this time. Even if they were, I wouldn’t take the risk of contaminating the people I live with. I’m staying with my parents in SC, and I consider myself quite lucky. Being able to go outside and run around my development isn’t really an option for my friends up north…who, even in May, are dealing with the occasional flurry—WHAT?! I know it shocked me too! Sure, they can run in the cold, but if you don’t keep moving, it won’t be fun hanging outside. Hopefully summer will be here sooner, rather than later.
Let’s do a game of distance-charades. Grab the binoculars!
It means a lot seeing the neighbors and having some interaction. Just keep your distance! A lot of the people in our development are taking this time to clean the flowerbeds, organize the house, and create crafts and activities. While my parents and our neighbor looked at nurseries to find flowers for their shared garden, I stayed home and painted the small fire hydrant in the center of the bed—don’t worry, I’ve done my research and called to confirm that this was okay.
My parents live in a cul-de-sac, so on Sundays the neighbors bring their own chairs to the end of their driveways to chat about the week and drink. It’s like being at a BYOB street party, just with a six-foot radius. Everyone is traveling through the same motions while on quarantine, so mixing things up helps keep each week interesting. This past Saturday, the neighbors had a musician come and play…you just need to bring your own drink and chair. My parents danced together and chatted with their friends. I’ve been doing more of a virtual visitation with friends—FaceTime, Zoom, and Houseparty.
Can you guess what show this character drawing is from?
I’ve chatted with friends I haven’t seen in years. Friends from high school, college, and old teammates from swim. I’ve chatted with family from all over. We’ve played virtual trivia games, Pictionary, and a version of Apples to Apples on Houseparty. I’ve shared memories and photos with my swim team on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Zoom. I’ve cooked dinner together with friends…each of us having a separate dish, leading to shared recipes and cheered drinks. I’ve made futuristic plans for travels, meet-ups, and competitions (triathlons and marathons)—of course, this will be a while from now, but more time means more to save. I’ve essentially traveled all over Canada, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Mississippi, etc. in the comfort of my own home in South Carolina—easiest packed trip I’ve ever taken. Granted it’s not the same as seeing friends and family in person, but you can blur that line digitally. There’s plenty to catch up on and when things start to go quiet, the game night begins. Some fun drinking games can be done with a deck of cards: Up the River, Down the River, Ride the Bus, and FUBAR. Of course, it starts to get more difficult as our dealer drinks.
What movie should we see?
It’s hard to go to the movies right now, but thankfully with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ there’s plenty of choices. I have set up my iPad to FaceTime my friend for our movie date. Popcorn? Check! Candy? Check! Beverage? Check! Ooo, I think I’ll have some ice cream too. “Now, on the count of three let’s hit play.” It helps that we’ve seen the movie before, since there are inevitable distractions that happen around us. But at the same time, the movie also had to be something we hadn’t seen in a long time. We chat, we laugh, and repeat lines. We catch things that we never noticed before. It’s great to learn about what other people have been watching too, and whether it’s worth to take a look myself.
Better get dressed and hit the gym!
Staying inside all day can effect your mood. It feels good to run around the development and get out of the house. Before quarantine, I’d workout at my CrossFit gym every day, and then text my family in our workout group-chat. This group-chat helps keep me motivated to stay active, especially now that the gyms are closed, and there’s nowhere to go. I stepped up the motivation by working out with my sister, who lives in Florida. We share our workouts for the day and do a FaceTime class. It’s as if she is right there with me in our own, at home, make-shift gym. Staying active and staying connected! We have the power to do so!
Leaving the electronics behind and making plans to go out?
Imagine everyone is the Grinch:
“I wouldn’t touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole.”
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