Yep, Life Is Definitely Feeling Brighter

I'm not sure if it's that more things are opening up here in California, the gorgeous weather we've been having, or a combination of the two, but I'm feeling a lot better these days, and much more accepting of the altered reality that will likely remain in place until either an effective treatment, a vaccine, or herd immunity is achieved at some point.

What's improved here: 

• All of our county wilderness parks have reopened, including parking and bathrooms.
• All of our county beaches have reopened for active usage, though they seem to be tolerant of families with young children that just want to dig in the sand. This will be important once our granddaughters arrive in late June!
• Along with our county beaches reopening, about 50% of their parking has been reopened, plus bathrooms.
• Restaurants are once again allowing people to sit and eat their food, though we are not interested in doing anything but sitting outside of a fast casual, non full-serve restaurant, with broad spacing between tables. 

Because of these changes, our lives are feeling full enough once again to carry us for a long, long time to come. 

We can now:

• Hike anywhere we want in the county.
• Bicycle the entire length of our county's coastline, plus portions of nearby San Diego county.
• Paddleboard and kayak in any of our four nearby harbors.
• Enjoy a picnic dinner at any of our parks, beaches, or harbors.
• Hang out at our adults-only HOA pool, or at one of the family HOA pools once our daughter and granddaughters get here next month.
• Meet friends and family for Social Distancing meal get togethers at any of our many parks, particularly the ones with views of the ocean or harbor.

So we are creating a new lifestyle that fits with the current reality of COVID-19. And it's a damn good lifestyle, perhaps even nicer than the awfully busy one we had prior. 

Here's an overview of this past week and coming weekend. 

Monday- Ten mile hike in one of our coastal wilderness parks, with a stop midway for lunch on a ridge looking down on Laguna Beach.

Tuesday- Kayaked with friends in Newport Harbor, pausing midway for a floating picnic lunch.

Wednesday- Ten mile hike in another one of our coastal wilderness parks, enjoying a take out lunch from the iconic Crystal Cove Shake Shack afterward.

Thursday- Paddle boarded around our local harbor in the morning, then made a return trip in the evening to enjoy a picnic dinner and watch the local sailboat club do their thing out on the water.

Friday- Bicycle ride south, with a lunch stop in San Clemente.

Saturday- Bicycle ride north, with a lunch stop in Huntington Beach.

Sunday- Walk to the beach for a picnic lunch.

I will say I am ever so appreciative to be healthy, fit, and active enough to get outside for long stretches of both time and miles. It does wonders, absolute wonders, for my emotional health. And for my physical health too, of course, but increasingly the emotional side is more critical.

Though I am happy to have avoided the dreaded COVID-15 (Think Freshman-15, for those who may not have heard about this, er, phenomenon, or seen a meme.)

😆

We also have started doing Social Distance picnic get togethers with friends. Just one couple at a time for now, in order to make maintaining a 6 ft. separation manageable.  Our basic rule of thumb is that we each arrive fully self contained so that no sharing occurs. Plus, we have a six foot blanket that we lay down as an easy-to-see barrier between chairs. So far it's been working great, and everyone has wanted to do it again, so, hip hip hooray, our weekends are starting to fill up again, which makes this extrovert very, very happy.

It's been soooo nice to see our friends in person, even if sitting 6+ feet apart, rather than by Zoom. 

But Zoom, and also live streaming, still has an important place in our lives, and likely will for some time to come. We Zoom our spiritual services, we Zoom as a family each weekend in that one of my daughter's lives on the opposite coastline, and we are continuing to live stream various performing artists. 

Today, for example, Yo-yo Ma is giving a live performance of Bach:

Other news is that I'm in the midst of a 30-Day Planking Challenge with family and friends. The first day was tough, as in I think I may have grunted a few times tough. But each subsequent day has gotten easier, and I'm already up to being able to hold my plank for a full minute. It feels pretty awesome, so here is a chart if one one is so inclined:

So I'm feeling much, much better, both physically and emotional, as life begins to open up bit by bit. 

How about you? How are you doing currently, emotionally and/or physically?