Covid Madness

Odie has decided I’m barking mad and perhaps he’s right.  Nobody is used to staying quite as close to home as we are doing these days. I don’t mind being home.  There are lots of things to do and the advantage of growing up as an only child is that I’ve always been pretty good at entertaining myself. Part of my daily routine has been to check friends’ postings on Facebook. Most of us are trying to post amusing things to keep spirits up and I always get at least one good laugh. Today, in addition to the cat videos and bad puns, a friend sent me a link to a complete performance by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. I’d seen the beginning of the performance before but today I decided I’d watch the whole thing. I put my headphones on and pressed play.

            While the first song was playing, I got up to make some tea and found myself swaying to the music. Richard was in his study watching something on his computer, so it was just Odie and me in the kitchen area. I poured the hot water over the tea leaves and began to walk rhythmically around the kitchen. I was having fun, and nobody was watching so I started to incorporate a couple of little running steps. Those led to a couple of jumps.  I didn’t want to try any twirls because nobody wants to break an ankle in the time of Covid 19. I started to smile, and the smile morphed into a grin. I did a couple of things with my feet and realized that those moves came from the aerobics classes of the ‘80’s.  That was when I thought to check my heart rate.  Quite acceptably in the exercise range. Carry on. 

            I figured I could get an even better workout if I got my arms involved, and I began to swing/ fling them about as I continued to bop around the kitchen. There was a moment where I thought that anyone watching would be sure I had lost the farm. The only one watching me was Odie; I decided to dance right over and include him in the fun. He was standing on his perch, perfectly still looking at me. He wasn’t upset because he wasn’t pinning his eyes or going into his ‘crouch before attack’ pose. He continued to just look without moving. I moved away and expanded my dancefloor to include the living room.  When I got back to him somewhere through the next song, he was still looking at me. I busted a few more moves just to see if he’d react. He may have cocked his head a little.

            About that time Richard came in, probably having heard the thumping on the floor.  He asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was dancing to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.  He grinned and acknowledged that that sounded like fun. There are a lot of reasons I keep that guy around and one of them is that he accepts me whirling around the kitchen like a dervish as understandable, if not normal behavior for a sixty-something woman while she doing her part to stay off the streets and out of trouble during the Covid 19 pandemic. He didn’t run to get his phone so he could blackmail me with video, nor did he laugh – not even a little.

            According to my Fitbit, I got in 33 minutes-worth of aerobic activity and it was a lot more entertaining than walking on the treadmill. After a while, Odie recovered from being a witness to the spectacle and I don’t think he’ll suffer any permanent damage.   It was enough fun that he may just have to get used to it. I wonder if it will make any difference if I let him hear the music.  Perhaps I can convince him to join me eventually.

            By the way here’s the link, in case you should feel a little like dancing.

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3PE9PIrfg