As if you were not aware that you have a brain, although mine is sometimes at a loss during these months of COVID-19 isolation and distancing, June is the Alzheimer’s Association’s Brain Awareness Month. As a result of my variant brain bubbles, I continue to pop my mental lapses as I strive to keep my mind active and fit. Readers know that I run daily. It has been exciting to watch the outside of the heels on my running shoes begin to wear off as it is a sure sign that I putting in ample mileage. What started as new shoes in February now clock over 550 miles. Fortunately, with the reopening of our swimming pool I can begin to alternate my fitness regime and toss in a bike ride as well.
I have also been plowing through a stack of books. Always an avid reader, I now have extra time during the day to set my mind to new reading adventures. As I belong to several book clubs and so the selections of others sometimes take me away from my regular non-fiction/history preferences. Other subject matter offers excellent diversion as these books are most often quick and require little deep thought and/or memorization of facts. When I resume to my collection I currently find myself engrossed in book 2 of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy. If you are interested in Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, you will appreciate these books. Long, detailed, real as well as imagined, intriguing and engaging.
And I am eating well. Once I discovered, then ordered, a brick of yeast on the internet I have added fresh bread to our daily meal plan. We are lucky that in our area our grocery stores have maintained an adequate supply of all essentials. Granted, there were some terrifying moments early on as toilet paper and paper towels vanished from the shelves, but these have returned. Recently I had begun to depend on Clorox wipes for cleaning up, but they have disappeared and with them I’ve been told they may never reappear in quantity. Lynn and I also have items growing in our garden. Fresh vegetables are beginning to sprout, however, I am not sure what the case will be next year since it was such a struggle to obtain seeds this spring. I realize that I must scout them out earlier.
I have shared the magnificence of Zoom or other online communication systems. Being able to see my nieces, laugh with my grandkids, chat with my sisters, and connect with my kids has been terrific. No, it is not the same as hugs and family pile-ups and pile-ons, but it will do for the moment. I even enjoy most of my “business” calls, but wish that many of them would head straight to the point instead of spending 30 minutes on, “Tell me something that inspires you” followed by, “You do not have to share if you do not want to”, trailed by “Gini??” Sort of puts me on the spot.
While I do like the challenge of online Scrabble with my sister, it astounds me the number of potential apps that appear every time I submit a word. Scarier still is all of the apps that make players feel like they might get rich. Even though there is the warning, “Must be 21 to play”, who is to know that it is a child who has just downloaded the game.
All in all, I have been guarding the quality of my brain: exercise, mental stimulation, nutrition, socialization, even though from a distance. What have you been doing for your brain? I hope that the big four mention above are part of your day. I wonder about the special and unique habits and hobbies you have indulged in during this time. It is hard to be patient, but it is critical for the safety of all. I hear from people who refuse to wear a mask stating, “The government will not tell me what to do!” as, in turn, I think of the other people that I am protecting with facial covering. To this latter exclamation I have remained silent until I came up with asking if the individual speaking wears a seatbelt? Only two reasons to wear one come to mind: safety and it is the law. Voila – face masks for safety and as a precautionary suggestion. They are not a law, but you get my drift.
