It is a beautiful spring day here. I woke up at four am to let Dot out and we slept on the couch until six. Then we went out again. Then we slept some more then had breakfast. Crows are rattling in the trees like madmen and the ravens clunk clunk clunk like they are dropping stones in a well. Dot tries to chase them when the black birds land on our mossy lawn to eat the crane fly larva that are hidden underneath. Soon we will be mowing and I don’t have any idea what Dot will make of that.
Early in the dark morning humpback whales were surfacing close to the house and their deep breaths startled us both. Dot stared out into the blackness but did not dare bark. Yesterday on a walk with a friend Dot came across her first brown bear track in the snow and it apparently sent an electric shock through her system. Dot jumped back and barked at it as if the impression itself was a existential threat. Maybe the unbelievably deep breathing off in the dark water had her confused, for she rushed back to me and sat on my feet as we both looked out to sea.
What to do when you can’t go visiting? My prime directive is to avoid depression and self pity. My poetry Professor in College, Nelson Bentley gave this advice, and even had banners made saying “AVOID SELF PITY LIKE THE PLAGUE!” Even though I have always struggle with depression Nelson taught me that it was no virtue in my writing. William Stafford also taught the same elements, “Good health and sobriety,” he said…” are always on your side.” This is great advice for writers but I think too its good for trying times.
But specifically what to do now?
First I make my bed. Even if I do nothing else. Making my bed is easy and it is there waiting for me at the end of the day. It says, “See, you did something, and it is here waiting for you all day to help you go to sleep and get ready for tomorrow.” I love crawling into a made bed as a way to stay happy.
Second, do the dishes. When dishes pile up I begin to feel like a drug addict. If I have a hard time getting the energy up, I play loud music or wear a stupid hat. If I can I make a game out of it. If kids are around I will make paper hats and have the Pirates attack the Sharks in the Suds! Yes it makes another mess, but things eventually get clean.
I limit my news intake and I limit my time pondering on my opinions about the news. We all seem to have strong opinions. I think it is good to express our opinions in our journals and to clarify what we really think. I think it is also good to read our history and know what we are talking about. But too many times lately I will talk with a friend and I will start in on a speech and instead of talking, my friend will give me their speech which may or may not be similar to mine but no matter neither of us feel that much better because the only thing we can really do, is give money to candidates and get out and vote for our local candidates and sign petitions. No one really wants to hear us give our speeches, particularly our family members. It’s like lecturing a baby with a poopy diaper about the gender gap in pay equity. I was lecturing Dot the other day about sanitary dog habits and I swear to God she looked me straight in the eye with a very intelligent look as we both stood in front of the refrigerator and she pissed on my foot. So much for logic. She wanted to go outside and play.
So… Go outside and play.
Make a game out of everything you can, and if you do keep a journal, collect jokes in the journal as well as your opinions and the descriptions of the things you actually heard, saw and smelled that day. Also note the price of things. In years to come you will find the jokes and the prices of things a lot more interesting than your old opinions.
Other fun things to do: write letters. Real letters are great and they are so nice to receive. You can also write emails as if they were a letter. Write a letter as if it were a journal entry. Tell someone you love what is going on with you, what you see, hear, smell, then what you are feeling. Also add something funny, something loving, think of it as a gift. If they don’t write you back, take it as a compliment. It was so good that they felt to intimidated to write you back. Also write a fan letter to someone you admire. You can write to a writer you admire through their agent or their publisher. The more super famous they are the less likely they are to write you back. If you send along a self address stamped envelope the more likely they are to write you back. You can also write just a regular fan letter make it short and funny and make yourself sound unique and interesting, but not needy and kind of crazy and you can say, “no need to respond to this, I just wanted to thank you for your work.” I’ve done this several times to writers I’ve loved and I’m at about fifty percent for writers writing me back. I have a letter from the Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney from a cold letter like that. A very sweet letter written on hotel stationary. I treasure it.
The other thing you might do…. give poetry a try. Poetry has way more laughter and wit in it than you might think. Poems are not meant to make you feel stupid…. which is what I always thought when I was younger. It wasn’t until I went to college and started going to readings. Seeing great poets read changed my mind about poetry. Even the most serious poets, were funny. Their readings were full of laughter. So go to YouTube and find some poets reading Here are some of my favorites, you can follow up on your own but check some of these out. Two of my very favorites: Pattiann Rogers and Seamus Heaney
Dig around, I will have more suggestions. You can write to me and I will try to write back. I don’t write back to people who just want to fight. I do make mistakes in my writing, I am dyslexic and badly need an editor and if you see misspellings I don’t mind you pointing them out but you won’t change me. I’ve been doing my best all my life. I do respect the language… I love it. My brain just has a hard time seeing the mistakes.
Come back tomorrow for more fun Ideas of things to do during a pandemic.
Blue sky, cherry tree,
There are no blossoms showing,
but I still love you.
jhs
