What To Do

In case you don’t know, as we get older we become more attached to our routines. In case you are new here, I am 75 … and VERY attached to my routines. Since we moved to Utah in December many of our routines have been shattered, in particular those connected to particular places and particular people. Now this, this being the COVID-2 pandemic and whatever degree of shelter in place (in my opinion a really dumb terminology) you see as prudent. Ours is probably not as strict as the most rabid would advise but it keeps us in the house much more than we are used to, particularly since we decided to limit our visits to the grocery stores. I had been using the stores to get my steps in each day when it’s cold (and almost all Utah days feel cold to this former Californian), so now I’m bundling up and walking outside. It’s actually better to be in the fresh air. But I get stir crazy being in the house and stir crazy leads to boredom and, for me, boredom leads to mild depression and depression leads to loss of interest in things I enjoy. Ouch. So it’s important for me to be conscientious in finding things to do. Here are a few that help me stay sane.

Stones

My Dad was a man of few words. He taught us mostly by example, unless you count, Don’t you back-talk to your mother. My Mom, on the other hand, not only set an example, she would verbalize her views of what constituted a good boy. I remember her telling me at some point, probably in my adolescence, that Life is for growing as a person. When you stop growing, you might as well be dead. She probably didn’t say exactly those words but the message was clear. Obviously, she wasn’t talking about growing up or about growing rich. She was talking about becoming a better person spiritually, socially and personally.

Updates

When I arrived in San Tan Valley, Arizona, last week and turned on the ancient Dell desktop that we use there, it began informing me that it wanted to be updated NOW.  NOD32, my virus scanner demanded my attention.   My database is 38 days out of date.  So is your freaking operating system.   Run Windows Update.   Windows Update joined in two-part harmony … 27 Critical Updates are ready to be downloaded.   Malwarebytes screamed that a new version and a new data base was available.  When I opened Mozilla Firefox, it informed me an update was available, as did PDF Reader and Flash Player.  Logmein, the remote desktop I use to access my computers when I’m away also asked to be updated.  I spent the first hour tending to the demands of my software.   Arriving home in Anaheim Hills, I got to go through the same process with my desktop here after it had been ignored for a week.