What can you do during a week off during a pandemic?
Welcome back, Your dreams were your ticket out. Welcome back, To that same old place that you laughed about.
Hi kids! I'm back! Did you miss me? Did you even know I was gone?
My brain was working on blog overload, so I needed to take a short break. I decided to try to shut things down for a week. It worked out okay. Not once did I hear the guy who lives in the White House say something bizarre and head immediately to my computer to write words about the lunacy. Sure, I screamed at my television a few times, but not once did my fingers hit the keyboard in response. I think that's progress. My therapist, if I had a current one, would be so proud.
So maybe...hopefully...you're wondering what did he do during his sabbatical? Well folks, let me inform you that there is life outside of writing. Who knew? Even in a pandemic, you can find activities to keep yourself occupied which are safe and somewhat sane...although that sane thing depends on who you ask.
There were four things I wanted to accomplish during my vacation. Let's take a quick peek at how it went:
Day trip: A couple of weeks ago, I read a Tribune story about how you can find the best grilled cheese in a small Wisconsin town. The article made it sound fairly romantic. It was only a three hour car ride. To quote the guys from Animal House, "ROAD TRIP!!" Well, the romance was a little overrated, as was the grilled cheese, but it did kill a day.
Reading: I'm a voracious reader. I set a goal of each year to read between seventy-five to one hundred books. I was well on my way to reaching the goal when the country shut down. I'm not sure what happened, but I quit reading. I went from reading one hundred or so pages each day to struggling to pick up a book. Twenty pages was a lot. It took me more than two months to finish a book about the women's tennis tour.
My goal was to knock off two books this week. First up was "The Last Trial" by Scott Turow. The follow-up was the latest by John Grisham, "Camino Winds." I made it through both of them...YEAH! They're easy reads taking just a couple of days of reading each. I recommend the Turow book....the Grisham one, not so much.
Btw...just so you don't think I only read legal thrillers, I'm now working on a new autobiography of baseball legend Willie Mays.
Television: I already admit to watching plenty of the tube, so why would this be on my list? Because I found a program that isn't MSNBC, ESPN or the Gameshow Network. My new cell phone came with a free year of Apple TV, so I finally got the chance to watch "The Morning Show." Jennifer Anniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrel all on one show has to be a lot laughs, right? Well, not so much, but it's excellent television. Ten episodes of an hour each took three days. Well worth the time!
Music: If you're from my generation, chances are Bob Dylan is one of your go-to musicians. To be honest, I'm in the minority about him. I love his songs, but I like them better when they're done by other artists. Still, when Dylan puts out new music, you have to give it a listen. His latest work is Dylan's first album of new music in eight years. At age seventy-nine, Bob still has plenty to say. It's worth the seventy-five minutes of your time to hear him out. (Teaser alert: a longer review is in the works!)
So those are the highlights from a pandemic staycation. It can be done! But, now that it's over, I'm ready to start reporting making snarky comments again. Has Trump or any of his flunkies done anything strange lately? OY!!!!
Who'd have thought they'd lead ya Back here where we need ya Yeah we tease him a lot cause we've got him on the spot, welcome back, Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.
*Song lyrics from "Welcome Back" by John Sebastian
Related Post: Can you have a staycation during a pandemic?
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