Keeping busy and staying entertained while continuing to be safe
By Emily Palazzotto
The roads are quiet. The busiest of neighborhoods appear to be ghost towns. Small businesses and restaurants are closed. Life seems to be put on hold. And life as we once knew it to be may never return. The seasons are turning from spring to summer. Unlike the rest of your summers, this will be the summer of staying home. This is our reality today.
The current coronavirus pandemic has put a wrench on many of our summer plans for 2020. Vacations have been cancelled, school years have ended early, no proms or graduations will take place and we have not been able to see our families, friends and co-workers like we have always been able to.
Locked inside since early March, your days have become filled with a whole lot of nothing. Pajamas and sweats are your everyday outfit. The only people you see are your immediate family members, if you’re lucky enough to live with them. This type of life is so unfamiliar to us all. As the summer months fall upon us, our world is slowly starting to re-open.
While the places you live may be opening up, it is vital that you continue to stay safe in these coming summer months. This does not mean that you cannot have fun while doing so! It is so easy, especially with all of the free time that we have right now, to engage in new activities and pick up new hobbies.
Here are some ways to stay occupied and safe while enjoying the coming summer months:
1. Home Concert
Music can always serve as an escape. There is nothing quite like seeing an artist perform in person. The blinding lights, the bass thumping so hard that you feel it in your core, every person around you singing the same songs and dancing alongside you. Seeing a concert makes me feel alive.
Due to the need for concert cancellations, many artists of all different genres have been putting on free concerts via television, Instagram live, and Facebook live and will continue to do so this summer. Even if it is just one song during a commercial break, it is a nice little escape to export you to some place other than your couch.
All you need to make this happen is a projector, a projector screen (you can also use a sheet, but it may not work as well), a laptop or device to stream the performance from, friends, food, drinks and your dancing shoes!
You can put the projector and screen almost anywhere, both inside and outside. A socially distant backyard concert is the perfect way to keep in the guidelines which the CDC has set for us in regard to social distancing, while also enjoying the company of others.
My mom and her friends having a girls night while enjoying their favorite band, Rich Mahogany, perform on facebook live
Photo by Emily Palazzotto
This will most definitely transform your “blah” day or night into an exciting and entertaining one! This fun way to recreate this concert scene from home is almost as enjoyable as actually going to a live concert itself (a plus is you can stay in your pajamas while you stream it and you don’t have to worry about getting there early to find parking)!
A projector and projector screen can be purchased on amazon. While they are a bit of an investment, they will be worth every penny because you will discover that they can be used for a number of things that you may not have realized.
Projector Screen on the mantle in my dining room
Photo by Emily Palazzotto
Some other ways that I like to use my projector and screen is for a movie night because the screen is larger than my television, for streaming workout videos and for doing family zoom calls so we are not all cramming in front of a computer screen to see everyone!
2. Become a Master in the Kitchen
With all of this down time on your hands, I’m sure you’re doing a lot more of what many people do when they’re bored – eat. I know that I’m guilty of eating when I have nothing else to do! In order to slow the “Quarantine Fifteen” as many are trademarking a sudden weight gain during this time, try cooking rather than just grabbing a bag of chips from the pantry!
Not only is this a great life skill to have (because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a good cook?!), but it can also be a time-consuming activity to fill some of your down time. Another plus to cooking is that your entire family can get involved!
There are several different websites on the internet where you can find recipes. During this time, I have been making a conscious effort to try to eat healthier. When I cook, I have been using websites with healthier recipe options such as Skinnytaste and HungryGirl!
Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir fry - Skinnytaste 10/10 recommend!
Photo by Emily Palazzotto
I have found that many of the recipes are fool proof for those of you who are not great cooks just yet like myself. These websites offer a variety of different recipe ideas that can suit almost every, if not every palette.
After cooking your meal, you may find that you find it to be more satisfying because you put in the work to make such a delicious meal.
Pan roasted potatoes and veggies with chicken and chicken sausage- Skinnytaste 6/10 recommend
Photo by Emily Palazzotto
Not only can you enjoy this meal with whoever you are in quarantine with, but maybe you will be inspired to have a socially distant barbecue in these coming months where you can showcase your new and improved skills in the kitchen!
3. Bike Ride
The smell of freshly cut grass fills the air and the warm summer wind will blow on your face as you ride past the neighbors who are doing yardwork or walking their dogs. Many of you have probably not ridden a bike since you got your license. It’s time to brush the dust off of your handlebars and inflate the tires that have gone flat after sitting in the shed for years – Let’s ride!
Not only is going for a bike ride a great way to socialize from a distance with neighbors and friends, as well as a much-needed change of scenery, but it is also a great source of exercise!
Many people have become laser focused on using this time to better themselves in a number of ways, but physically is definitely one of the most common. Going on a bike ride kills two birds with one stone – you can exercise and get your heart rate up while socializing!
Get your family, friends and even pets involved! My mom’s favorite thing to do is put my Yorkie in the basket to her bike and I do admit, it is so stinking cute!
Photos by Emily Palazzotto
While on your bike ride, I’m sure you will discover new places around your neighborhood that you never paid much mind to. I’m fortunate enough that my hometown (Oakdale, New York) is home to one of the Vanderbilt Estates which had become Dowling College before it’s closure a few years back. The grounds remain and I have found that it is my favorite sunset spot!
Dowling College
Photo from kids.britannica.com
Dowling sunset
Photo by Emily Palazzotto
It is the hidden treasure of Oakdale for me. I’m confident that you can find your own hidden treasure right in your backyard too – it’s nothing but a bike ride away!
4. Zoom
Since March, it seems that our entire lives have become so isolated. While we may be forced to stay physically isolated at this time, the world has turned to Zoom to keep us connected. Zoom is a free application that can be downloaded to a phone or computer with a camera. Unlike facetime, Zoom does not limit the number of individuals able to join a video chat at one time.
Zoom for my cousin's graduation with fun filters!
Photo by Emily Palazzotto
First, teachers used Zoom as a great resource to keep live teaching available from home once schools closed. Soon after many people starting using Zoom for personal enjoyment.
It is so easy to have your family or friends in one place at one time to all see each other and catch up. On holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day, my family had a Zoom call during dinner. We were even able to Zoom to watch my cousin graduate from college virtually! Even my grandparents hop in on our family calls – trust me, teaching your elderly grandparents how to work a computer, let alone Zoom is a whole production within itself, destined to give you some sort of entertainment (accompanied by frustration as well I’m sure).
Zoom on Easter for dinner - if you look closely, you can see my grandparents on separate screens in the top left box because they could only figure it our on their phones. It was for sure a federal case to coordinate this, but it was so worth it!
Photo by Emily Palazzotto
Zoom happy hour is something that my family has every two weeks – it is a great way to feel as if we are together, even though we are apart.
Coronavirus may have taken a lot away from you, but not your summer fun - keep persevering through the pandemic with these engaging activities!
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