Lost in Thought
“Dot.calm” by Jane Silverman
Today, I am NOT thinking about COVID-19. I need a break from the daily anonymous numbers and shouting headlines, don’t you? Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global working-from-home wellness site thriveglobal.com, recommends “moderating our negative news intake, staying connected with friends, family, and nature, prioritizing sleep, moving our bodies and meditating small and often.”
With Arianna in mind, I kayaked and enjoyed the beauty of the day and tried to think about the visual of breathing in light and breathing out stress (emphasis on the word tried). I downloaded the Pillow Automatic Sleep Tracker app neybox.com/pillow to track and prioritize my sleep (works with or without an Apple Watch). But then, I spent way too long thinking about the wonder of palindromes (words that read the same forward and backward) like “racecar,” “deified,” “Never Odd or Even”, and “A Man, A Plan, A Canal – Panama” (David McCullough’s book). All that before 10 a.m.
The Good Word
Going out for a walk, kayak, golf cart or bike excursion is a great time to NOT think about COVID-19. Instead, fill your mind with podcasts (especially comedic ones) you can find on the free Pocket Cast pocketcasts.com or Castbox castbox.fm apps.
Another Think Coming
Grab your calendar — 2020 is chock a block with special anniversaries and celebrations that will hopefully take place:
–Did you know that this year is the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower? On September 10, the Mayflower ll replica of the ship will arrive in Provincetown, Massachusetts with events on both sides of the Atlantic; learn more at mayflower400uk.org, provincetown400.com, Plymouth400inc.org, and mayflowersails2020.com.
There are 35 million Mayflower descendants in the world. If you think you may be one, fill out the Mayflower Society’s Lineage Match form to check: themayflowersociety.org/join/mayflower-lineage-match.
-May 8th is the 75th Anniversary of V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) and the end of World War 2 veday75.org. In her memoirs, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recalls the BBC’s World War 2 radio broadcasts from London “were introduced by a kettledrum playing the first notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony: dah-dah-dah-dum. In Morse Code, that was V (dot-dot-dot-dash), the Allies’ symbol for victory in Europe.” It’s amazing the things you learn when you are NOT Thinking about COVID-19…
-Mars 2020 mars.nasa.gov is still a “Go” for NASA’s Perseverance Rover launch on a mission to seek proof of the existence of life on the red planet. It will join the Curiosity Rover currently being operated from the homes of its NASA team on lockdown. The planned launch is July 17 with a February 2021 landing 33.9 million miles away.
–Did you know that it’s also Maine’s 200th anniversary of statehood in these United States? Ayuh. It’s gonna be a honkin’ good time. Visit the website to track events that may take place this summer and into the Fall maine200.org.
-November 1 is the 50th New York City Marathon nyrr.org with over 50,000 runners on the 26.2-mile course. Visit the website to sign up for Virtual Races you can do at your pace and place because “even when we run alone, we run together.” Download the companion Strava app strava.com to log your miles or join one of the hundreds of different types of Virtual Races taking place and tracked via GPS. The strava.com/challenges website lists Virtual Races and Running Clubs near you (though they could be anywhere in the world since the races are Virtual).
Strava is also a great fitness activity tracker for your walks, bike rides, kayaking, and more and creates a line drawing of every step or ride you take. If you want to be clever, you can add some fun to your day and map out a doodle design with its GPS route tracker. Visit gpsdoodles.com to see some ideas.
–This year is also the 95th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry which started on November 28, 1925. The October 2nd and 3rd birthday weekend should be fun – even if it ends up online. opry.com/offers/grand-ole-opry-birthday-bash.
Great Minds Think Alike
Instead of worrying about the future of the world, I am focusing on friends and family and lots of Zoom zoom.us app calls. Since we all pretty much ran out of things to talk about weeks ago, we played Bingo with the truly amazing and easy to use myfreebingocards.com (free for up to 30 people or $10 for up to 100 and comes with a Bingo caller). Design your own bespoke Bingo cards (or it will create one for you). Next week we will play Trivia with the Random Trivia Generator app randomtriviagenerator.com “to productively kill time learning new facts…” Hmmm NOT thinking about COVID-19 may be easier than I thought.
“Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” –Dr. Seus