Keeping Busy…Revisited

In just a few short days, no matter where we live, country or city, Canada or anywhere else in the world, our lives have been turned upside down.

After I wrote last Tuesday about keeping busy in the city, even that is a challenge. When restrictions and guidelines prevent us from gathering in groups larger than our own family, how can we tame our fear in order to stay healthy and involved in life in meaningful ways, for the next weeks or even months?

First of all, it’s crucial to be active. We don’t want to shrivel up any more than we already have. Nor do we want to gain weight from all that junk food we’ve been hoarding. So go for a walk. But where? Well you could probably walk down Yonge Street and not run into anybody. But a more scenic choice was offered by a reader – the cemetery. Trees, serenity, even historic research are available here, all for free.

On Sunday my husband Peter and I chose one of our favourite spots – the Lake. We drove to Sunnyside Beach, and walked east along the shoreline to the Canadian National Exhibition. Then we walked back to the car through a residential neighbourhood of beautiful old homes. It was interesting, it was invigorating, and it gave us a different view of the area. Imagine the CNE grounds with NO people! We did see some other walkers on our route, old and young, but everyone was keeping a safe distance apart. Until or unless we are all quarantined, we highly recommend this form of therapy. Take some dark chocolate along for support.

As we get older waiting for this virus to pass, we can also do some research about aging. A new Canadian book on the bestseller list is Successful Aging by Dr Daniel Levitin. He IS a neuroscientist, so be prepared for a lot of facts and graphs. Or Google Steve Job’s last essay, written before he died, titled Six Best Doctors. You’ll be surprised at his choices as he writes in hindsight. A recent TV show, now apparently available as a podcast, called Aging Well Suzuki Style, features our own home-grown hero. At 83, David Suzuki highly recommends aging as a natural part of life. It’s useful to learn about the problems this scientist encounters as he builds a tree-house for his grandchildren.

At home there are other diversions to consider. A reader submitted a website, (travel and leisure.com), where a viewer can take a virtual tour of museums across Europe. Since most of us won’t be going there any time soon, try it out. Or, instead of joining the long lines at the grocery store, get creative with all the leftovers at the back of your fridge. Then watch Fridge Wars on TV Thursday night to see how you compare. Readers have also suggested their favourite online games for increasing brain power: Wordscape, 4 pics 1 word, Sudoku and Solitaire. When desperate, try composing new words for the 20-second hand-washing Happy Birthday song.

Send in your suggestions. I’ll have plenty of time to write an extra post with all the great ideas you submit. In these turbulent times, the one thing we do have is each other.

So, even though it may be wishful thinking, Top O’ the Mornin’ To Ya’

Sue