
It’s Cold. It’s Quarantine. It’s Okay.
A huge portion of the country is frozen over and Minneapolis is no exception. The StarTribune issued a challenge to get outside for thirty minutes a day for thirty days. While it sounded invigorating, I respectfully declined to participate. I walked to my mailbox last night and I felt like the Tin Man before Dorothy found the oil can. I logged maybe two minutes in the cold, and the other twenty-eight were not going to happen.
I’m looking at my calendar for next week and I have three in-person appointments and three virtual ones. I hardly know what to do with myself. I haven’t had something scheduled every day since pre-COVID. I may try the new CDC guidelines and wear a double mask. I’ve made it this far and have no intention to risk my health, especially being a low priority person for the vaccine rollout.
As long as I’m on the subject, I’m having nightmares I contract COVID-19. In my dreams, I’m shocked and angry. How could this happen? I rarely leave my kitchen or home office and always mask up. The visions are very vivid. I can’t smell or taste or breathe. When I wake up, I actually welcome the bad morning breath because I realize it was just a dream. Do you have pandemic dreams as well? I think we should discuss them. They are such a creative extension of our psyches.
It’s in these doldrums of winter, between the Super Bore of a football game and Easter, that I have a tendency to waste my most precious resource. Time. I sense, wrongly, that I have an abundance of days. I don’t have any idea how many I have, but as I look around, songs I enjoyed as a college student are now the soundtracks for drug ads and retirement programs for old people. What the hell? I can not legitimately put myself in any age group labelled “young.” I’m in my sixth decade and just when I got the hang of this thing called life, I’m realizing there’s a lot left to do.
So what if it’s cold, and I’m old? I will go outside and watch my breath freeze. I’ll listen to my lungs crackle as I inhale the frigid air and feel the sting of the wind on my cheeks. I will not go quietly into a rocking chair with a shawl. I can’t promise thirty minutes but I will accept the challenge of going outside every day for thirty days. I’ll report back on my progress. Let’s do this.
~Colleen
Love your fresh take on every subject Colleen. You’re both a natural and a hard worker.
Mary
Thanks, Mary. It’s lovely to get your support!
I know the feeling. Bitter cold and lots of snow have also contributed to my malaise, but I’m with you. I appreciate the directive to get out there and breathe in the cold February air. Spring is around the corner. Love your postings, my friend. Carpe Diem!
Beth
Thanks for reading, Beth. Three days in and it’s freezing cold but invigorating. Thanks so much for your support! ~ Colleen