My Pandemic Hobbies

My friend Alexis has made a specialty of making witty, personable for sale posts on the Facebook neighborhood BST boards (enough so that other friends, who don't know her, were discussing last night how her posts had made their day).

She posts things like:

And then there was that time in quarantine where I thought that I should start batiking fabric to make rugs with.

And then there was that one time in quarantine where I decided that I should learn ballet from YouTube...

and

I’m coming to terms with the fact that I like to shop for craft supplies but I don’t actually like to craft.... Help me clean out some of my crafting stuff so I can obsessively collect some other hobby that I won’t actually do!

And lord knows, the last year has not been the productive bonanza I thought it would be at all. My craft pile still sits in the corner of the room, the basement remains uncleaned, and I as of yet I have not managed to perfect sourdough or whatever the cool kids are doing.

I have managed, however, to try some things out, or to pick up things I have not done in years.

Today I joined the "SPA Community Choir" (virtual style!). I have not sung since high school — not even once, except maybe some tuneless songs to Beatrix when she was a baby. But I keep on encouraging her to work hard at choir and in the musical, so I thought I had better put my money where my mouth was. The first rehearsal today was both exhilarating and terrifying.


A few weeks back, I did another thing I had not done since high school — ice skating! I was really terrible, but I would like to try again. Anyone have a semi-private rink I could try on? I'm pretty sure I caused a lot of amusement for the teens at Desnoyer working on their hockey moves. Beatrix, however, was a champ, and despite also being an uncertain skater, has gone skating with friends a few times since then.


In late fall, I took a collage class from my friend Kelly. Life got in the way and I did not finish the assignments, but I gained a huge admiration for the art and for what she does with it. I highly recommend her classes! (and I am hoping to do more soon)

I'm not sure what unexpected hobby I'll take up next. Maybe I should get better at mixing cocktails, so Patrick does not always have to do it. Maybe I should be inspired by the #iceportal and take up something with ice. But I do hope to keep prioritizing trying new things and rediscovering old ones!


 

 

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