Day 21 - SkyLines from the French Lock-down: Imagination

Salut mes chers!  (Hi my dear ones!)
We are all itching to be out doing whatever we want and we can imagine that you feel the same.  But the good news is there is evidence that the virus is slowing down because of this social distancing.  So be tolerant.  And when staying home gets boring, it's time to use our imagination to take us where we can't go physically.

We are like the boats. We wait for the tide to be right.
We will sail again. Dream, play, be patient.

Day 21 - Three weeks of quarantine in France means I wonder if my car will start up the next time we are permitted to drive around just for pleasure. I think I'd walk up to where it's parked later today and just let the engine run for a moment. As we have three grocery stores, four bakeries, and a pharmacy within walking distance, it hasn't been "of essential need" to drive anywhere since we stocked up at the supermarket so long ago.  On the up side, it also means I haven't spent money on gasoline for a month. I worked out what we'd saved on having two coffees at the cafes for 21 days and it was 65 euros (that's 71 dollars right now). Yeah, I'd rather not be saving this money, but I'm just looking for the positive.

More positives -It's been three weeks of focused writing every day and that is good for me. The cafes tend to be a wonderful distraction and so I'm getting a lot more done at home. There is a glimmer of real hope for us in Europe - The statistics in France, Spain and Italy were better yesterday and the number of deaths fell by half!  When I heard myself say to my French partner, Y, "Cheri!  It is better today, only 518 dead today."  I thought, my lord, I never thought I would say something like that in my life!  But I had said it and I did feel better.  The social distancing is working.  Let's hope this trend continues because I know in America, this wave is just starting to hit hard.  I'm so glad you are being wise and keeping yourself as safe as you can.

Now that it's been three weeks at home, a lot of people are feeling the boredom of routine setting in.  In fact, when I checked into social media this morning to see how my friends are doing, the first post I read asked, "Is anyone else bored?"  

The comments confirmed that many people do feel that way.  Several pointed out that it was our civil duty to stay home and keep the curve low.  (See, just a month ago, if someone had said, "keep the curve low" I'd have wondered what that meant!)  The low curve will give the medical services a break and hopefully keep them from being overwhelmed with cases of Covid-19. And in time, there should be a vaccine and not just treatments to speed recovery.

It doesn't help, does it?  The house has been cleaned to the point of who cares?  You've de-cluttered every day and now you have boxes of stuff you can't take out of the house anyway...

This tourist map of our
village pretty much shows
the limits of our days.

The sound of the TV is becoming irritating.  Binge-watching helps us pass the time in the evening, but I fall asleep after the fourth episode and Y has to tell me what I've missed.  Taking

a walk is good, but that's only one hour of the day, right?  Wait - there is more to life at home than sitting on the couch, cleaning, or taking a walk!

It's time to use our imaginations.  Play with this time.  Find a way to give yourself or the kids a chance to run the blues away. (Running is good, but you've got to do it alone and close to home, so I meant that as a metaphor!)  We've actually been playing board games and word games with each other.  I never though that would be a thing!

Y remarked yesterday afternoon that the week had gone by quickly in comparison to the first two under quarantine.  How can that be? I told him, maybe it's because he's been doing his English lessons every day on Duolingo.  Often he does five or six!  It's true - a half an hour can vanish as you go through the little bite sized lessons.  I've done at least one every day for over two years now. (Of course, he and I have a real motivation to do so!)

So - imagine this! You have time now to learn something you've been meaning to do - you

It took a while to get to this point!

develop a routine, you can do a quick lesson as you have a cup of coffee or tea.  How about a new language or brushing up on one you already have an acquaintance with and hadn't had time before to give it some practice?  And imagine!  Maybe you could do this with a friend and use Zoom, Skype, Messenger, What'sApp or another form of communication to have little conversations to practice what you've learned.  The nice thing is there is no teacher to nag you or tests to stress over.

Create a better work area, or rearrange a room.  You could do it all on paper - cut out little furniture outlines or draw it.  And if you're feeling energetic, push a few things around in the real world.  If you don't like it, there's definitely time to put it back the way it was before.  

Read - like I need to mention it?  You're reading this, so you already know.  We're discovering a ton of free ebooks are available right now, special.  LifeHacker made a great list of resources. I've just gotten started browsing them.  I love books in my hands, but one my phone or computer is good too.  It's great to have a book in your pocket when you end up having to wait somewhere... or if the lights are out - your screen is still bright. (Smile)

Dream - Plan a perfect vacation, or revisit one you've taken.  List the things you will do when

Our dream - when it's over
we have a plan. My partner
is cleaning and checking
over our windsurfing gear.

you are free to roam once again.  I've had a great time this morning going through my favorite photos.  I'll stick a few on this post!  It made me smile.  And let's dream happy - this time of confinement will be a memory one day.  

Organize Your Computer Files - Tag your photo collection there is time at last!  I've finally started on this project.  My goal is to tag at least ten photos a day.  I'm just adding the where and who.  It takes time.  I enjoyed this general article on organizing - but whether I will get there is another question. Forget Folders is an interesting read if you are thinking about doing this too.Here is a YouTube video that explains how to Tag Your photos in Windows 10  Apple uses "keywords" which you can assign to folders or photos.  This video shows you how and includes making albums to Organize photos in your Apple Computer.  

Feed Yourself Better - One little thing is that I've been consciously doing is to ask my partner to get involved in planning and preparing our meals.  It helps break up the day.  We have a

I love this photo from my garden

stockpile list of everything that is in the freezer and pantry.  (I started by taking photos and writing down.  Then I just cross out or add to it.) I make a note of anything that has an upcoming due date. Next we use our imagination to think what we might have for today's meals and tomorrow's.  We want to be free to change our minds, so tomorrow's is flexible.

The funny thing is, we have eaten better during confinement than we did before. Of course, being in a small village, we have been lucky and can still buy fresh produce, eggs, milk, and bread every day that we need it.  Because of the way the village is built house against house in small medieval streets, we do see our neighbors when we go to shop and can ask at a distance how they are doing.

Stretch Your Body - I've been working out every morning for over four years now.  I usually do

six out of seven days but I do drop my routine now and then when it's not convenient - like the

The wheel represents the
Catalan folk dance
La Sardane.

month we were staying with family on a tropical island.  I thought I would keep on doing it but it's noisy and I felt like being lazy.  I started up again when we got home.  I use an app that is tailored to the amount I want and can do physically.  It motivates me by telling me how many calories I've burned and I can put on some active music in the background to cheer me up.  It makes a big difference to how I feel.  Y goes jogging in the streets around our house within the quarantine limits.  It makes him feel good too. If you've been comfort baking or comfort-eating, maybe now is the time to ramp up a bit on the exercises. I use this App - Fit8 - it's in my phone and I stick to the free version.  There are lots of others but I love the fact that it gives me a different routine every day.

 The kids are harder to keep happy under quarantine.  As a teacher, I can tell you that have a routine is important for kids.  (yeah, for us too, actually)  Read about it here.  Maybe you can help them find something different to do with a little imagination - this little guy in England could be an inspiration to those who play team sports.  He's figured out how to work on his skills in isolation for when we all get to go out again. (Thinking outside the goal box)  This Swiss site had a great over all list of How to Deal with Quarantine that included everyone.

And if all else fails, there is always the internet - I enjoyed this article at Open Culture today.  And...more binge watching... for those of you in America there appears to be a free site called Crackle.  We can't get it in Europe. I've read you can access movies and other Sony owned media there and the only payment is that you have to watch ads... sounds suspiciously like TV to me! I read about it in this C/Net article on free movie streaming sites.

Finally - play more games - to use the app for free, you see ads.  Most of them are for games.  Who knows?  There might be one that is fun to try.  I play a lot more Word With Friends right now because of the quarantine!  I'll bet a lot of people are finding solace in computer/phone games.  Why not?  We need to blow off the cobwebs in our minds. I'm off now to do just that.  


So we’re going to staying home and it looks like it might be until the end of the month. At least we’ll be doing it together at a suitable distance. Tell us what you’re doing and what you’re dreaming of doing when this quarantine ends. Won’t that be a great feeling? 

À demain,! (Until tomorrow!)  Link to Day 22  

The is the view from our kitchen. I'm sorting photos.
I may tag this one "Blissful" and "Cottage".