Musing about memories — and daily activities

ACTIVITIES

"You've Got This!"  A page from Crown Center was in the bag along with the two meals delivered today.  "With restaurants and stores closing and events cancelled, the days can start to run together," it says.  I thought of that last night before bedtime, that my days seem all muddled now.  Crown suggests we establish a routine for each day.

• Keep wake-up, mealtimes, and bedtimes the same as usual.
• Try to do activities at the times you are used to, even if the activities themselves are a little different.

And on the back of the sheet is a "Creative Connection Calendar" encouraging us to connect with others and be mentally active.  In other words, give our brains a workout.

Monday — Connect

• Call a friend who lives in another building (in Crown Center or the community).

Tuesday — Brainstorm

• Write down one favorite song from every decade of your life; bonus — name one from each year of your life.

Wednesday — Connect

• Ask a friend about meals they've been eating; or share a recipe for a new idea.

Thursday — Brainstorm

• List your favorite characters from books, movies, TV, etc.

Friday — Connect

• Listen to a piece of music that brings back a memory from childhood.

Saturday/Sunday — Breathe

• Inhale through your nose and exhale slowly through pursed lips.  Do this five times.

MEMORIES

While we are breathing on the weekend, maybe we older folks could also write down some of our memories, like "phoning" each other using tin cans.  Did you every try that?  I remember doing it.

Once upon a time, Mickey and I tried making a really, really long connection.  We couldn't quite make it go from my second floor bedroom window to his ground floor apartment in the next building over.  But we tried.  Part of our problem were the multiple clothes lines in our shared back yard.

Which reminds me of another memory.  One of my chores was hanging clothes out to dry.  My mother would roll out the washing machine with its wringer on top to squeeze out excess water.  She'd hook it up to the kitchen sink, and throw in the laundry.  I was tasked with hauling the wet clothes outside, down the back stairs, to hang each item on one of the rows of clotheslines.  Ours were similar to this illustration (above) that I found online, except ours had more lines in both directions.  Living in the projects, we needed lots of lines.  With six people in our family, we didn't leave spaces between each piece, either.  A single clothes pin held two cloth items joined.  Towels and garments stretched from one pole to the other in an unbroken line.

Hours later, I would have to go back out there and bring in all the dried jeans and towels, dresses and underwear.  Back then, "online" had a totally different meaning from today's online experience.

Hmm, today is Monday.  Shall I give YOU a call?  Or you could call me.