The 2020 summer...a strange season to say the least. While summer extends a few more weeks into September, here is the Top 10 recap to the pandemic bizarro dog days of 2020:
#10: SWIM
As land dwellers, pandemic life demanded cannonballs. In my existence, 2020 might have been my record year for cannonballs. Weary of trying to cut through the national tension, I simply jackknifed into an underwater eutopia, free from the frenzy. Our kids swam like fish and we perfected animal impressions into our aquatic world. I greatly enjoyed morphing into a penguin, a flamingo, a rhinoceros, and a frog and teaching my daughters how to be their best beast. Becoming a wild animal was the perfect release from being a wild human being living in this wild society.
#9: ZOOM
Zoom, by definition, is to "move or travel very quickly". Our kids are zooming through their childhood and it is a sight to behold. They have developed a sisterly chemistry that at times feels impenetrable. Hours later, they are in a full-fledged civil war that requires a third party treaty. In playtime and wartime, they have each other and we have them. From a safe haven to a madhouse, our house still stands. And when times got extremely tough, we pitched a tent in the backyard and lived together in even tighter isolation.
#8: RUN
There can be a solution-focused notion to running. I can't solve the world's problems or my problems in New Balance shoes, but it is more productive than the combo of couch and social media. As an assistant cross country coach, I have observed how running brings people together. As a Dad, I have observed how imagination and feet move together. And while I have missed the community races that have been the backbone to my kinetic energy, it has been a welcomed challenge to keep running through the 2020 gauntlet.
#7: HIKE
John Muir once said, "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees". John did not directly tell me that. He died in 1914. I googled John and thought this quote would bolster the "hike" paragraph.
And, wouldn't it be nice if everyone spoke and googled with good tidings? John lived in a different world. He got out the year World War I started. John did not do any online searching. He did forest searching. He was standing amongst the trees searching and theorizing the therapeutic nature of nature.
I would like to think he would have enjoyed watching my girls lead friendship brigades into Stackhouse Park and to the Staple Bend Tunnel this summer. Being surrounded by trees has been a great defense from being swarmed by the buzz and the sting that is news.
#6: HUNT
In the forest and in the streets, our summer troop has come up close with creatures. Salamander and crayfish catching in the creek. Coyote howls at night. A neighborhood praying mantis. We traveled to Elk County to social distance from humans and social connect with elk. From snake sights to crab chases, it was a summer full of animals.
#5: GOLF
As if there were not enough rules for golf, 2020 marked the year when the rule book added a testament. You can only ride in a cart with someone who lives in your household. The flag stick is stuck. The hole is lava. The greens are not so green. Golf had to persevere through drought, health crisis, and of course, terrible golfers.
My wife and I did sporadic golf dates throughout the summer. My favorite memory is in a couples scramble against no one we birdied a Par 5. I sunk a putt as fire truck sirens blared and a wolfhound cried out into the August evening. It required concentration and an appreciation for the absurd.
We smiled as I scooped that ball out of the lava. The putt and the noise were a perfect marriage to encapsulate 2020, a loud and silly year.
#4: CREATE
Two thumbs up to art. As parents scramble to try to figure out what to do with the children they produced, the production that is art has a place in the 2020 mind bender. One of our first public appearances of the summer was at a Bottleworks event where our kids got to paint eggs, play drums, and watch a man carve wooden whistles. It was an indoor/outdoor opportunity to create and reinforce the majesty of hand sanitizer.
#3: GROW
On most birthdays, my wife and I prefer a shared event over a wrapped gift. Well, 2020 threw a real wrench into going anywhere. So, I bought the love of my life a popcorn plant at the newly opened SEADS Garden Center in Westmont. I know what your thinking - "what a guy" and "what is a popcorn plant and is it buttered?".
So, here is how the story goes. I wander into SEADS with no plan. The owner observes my clear lack of flora and fauna knowledge. He instructs me to touch a plant and then smell my hand. Typically, I don't follow stranger instructions to touch and smell, but at this point, I'm a desperate husband in a pandemic. Amazingly, my hand smells like popcorn and I have not been poisoned.
Today, the popcorn plant stands tall in our front yard. I think our marriage is stronger because of it. At one point, we had the praying mantis we found on the popcorn plant. I was so excited and took a lot of pictures.
I am getting old.
#2: SHOOT THE HOOPS
Basketball has been the most influential sport of my life. When my 3-year-old called basketball "shoot the hoops" I knew I had a star in the making. Additionally, I am a highly acclaimed assistant "shoot the hoops" coach for a kindergarten-2nd grade co-ed team. The best way for me to describe this level of sporting is a deranged stampede of wildebeest with an orange ball.
There is a great scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest where lunatics participate in an outdoor "shoot the hoops". Just watch that scene and pretend everyone is 5-years-old.
#1: LEARN
If you haven't learned something this calendar year, you probably should just go "shoot the hoops" in an asylum. Through all the stress, frustration, confusion, and disappointment, I am determined to learn my way out of this. Without a doubt, there is a stampede of negativity that is out to trample. Instead of choosing sides or joining a judgmental juggernaut, zoom by ignorance. Follow Dory's lead and "just keep swimming". Get outdoors and grow. Run with the positive pack. Create experiences that give our kids- all kids- hope.
Autumn is around the corner. Finish the 2020 summer strong.
Goodnight, Johnstown.
