UMRA members continue to demonstrate their resourcefulness when it comes to coping with the coronavirus. [See “Making lemonade” in the April newsletter.] Here is a sampling of the responses to our most recent informal survey. —Editor

What is something you've been doing to maintain your sense of resilience? 

I continue to enjoy the outdoors, golfing at least twice a week with friends. I’ve also investigated the statistical information that is becoming clearer surrounding the virus. The absolute numbers grab attention, but the percentage numbers provide a bit of reassurance. —Eric Hockert

I’m back to swimming laps at Lifetime Fitness. —Pat Tollefson

I have been exchanging thoughtful emails with friends (both local and in Europe), reflecting at length on the world, our lives, our kids' lives, the wreckage of the economy and its effect on so many people. I'm also exchanging emails with my son, age 29, on the same topics. —Gary Engstrand

Volunteering at a Red Cross Blood Donation Center has been a great experience for me. I'm so grateful for my health and for everyone I love. The pandemic has really made me see how lucky I am. —Bev Moe

Photographing a beautiful garden where I live, walking my two dogs every morning, inspirational readings and journaling in the mornings, and reading lots of fiction (it helps to rise above the chaos). —Jan McCullough

Resilience has meant learning new technology-related skills and learning to search online for entertainment, religious services, classes, and contacts. Resilience has meant setting our own deadlines and magnifying priorities in order to accomplish simple tasks such as sending a birthday card, logging into an UMRA Forum, or turning on the dishwasher. Most of all, resilience has been maintained by talking with friends and relatives as much as possible. —Jean Kinsey and Frank Busta

What is a new ritual you've established to brighten your day? Or to brighten the day of someone else?

I am the youngest in a bridge group of 12 (that I started in 1978). One guy is 92, one woman is 89, two are in their early 80s, two in their early 70s, and three of us were born the summer of 1951. We have latched onto Bridge Base Online and play about three times per week (far more than I ever played before the pandemic!) We also get on a conference call so we can talk to each other as we play. We all benefit from the faux-human contact, even if we’re almost entirely focused on bridge. —Gary Engstrand

On weekly hikes around the metro area I've become better acquainted with a colleague from UMRA whom I barely knew before the pandemic and now consider a good friend. —Bev Moe

My wife, Carol, and I are doing music from the grass to the balconies of nursing homes. We also walk the neighborhood and Como Park doing music and getting others to sing along. On Mondays and Fridays, weather permitting, we do songs at Johanna Shores Presbyterian Homes where there are people we have known for years. On Thursdays we go to Adagio’s Pizza Factory to hear Vinnie Rose, the best guitar player in the Twin Cities. On occasion we do music for Missions, Inc., the only all-men’s nursing home in Minnesota, on their beautiful campus along the shores of Medicine Lake. We also go to Crooners Lakeside Café in Fridley. Here’s a link to videos of our Grass to the Balcony music. —Andy Whitman

My neighbors and I have cocktails on the driveway on a routine basis and "pop up" visits when we are all outside. —Jan McCullough

When we take our daily walk around the neighborhood, the people we meet are much friendlier than they used to be before the virus, more like Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. 

Another day brightener is that my sister who lives in Montana suggested discussing short stories on the phone once a week. This is something to look forward to and is expanding our reading horizons. —Pat Tollefson

Rituals have been critical to maintaining a sense of self, of continuing to believe that you are still a real person worth dressing up for. Trying new recipes from the New York Times is part of trying to make eating at home exciting and fun. We ritually watch the evening news on at least two TV channels and read two hardcopy newspapers daily. 

Routines, though sometimes boring, have taught us to find beauty and satisfaction in small tasks, done well.  

Taking on projects such as creating a memory book of photographs of our granddaughter from high school graduation back to birth using photos stored on our two computers was an exciting activity. We presented it to her at her graduation party where we sat on the lawn and observed all the action 30 feet in front of us. Two trips to drive through the Arboretum were a nice relief. Best of all was a two-day adventure to locate and photograph all 20 of the rose sculptures in Roseville. —Jean Kinsey and Frank Busta

Describe something lockdown-related that really made you laugh

Watching my dog watch TV. She regularly “attacks” animals she sees on the screen, even cartoon ones. My friends now send her videos. She thinks everything on my monitor, including Zoom meetings, is for her. A constant source of amusement! —Jan McCulloch

A contemporary of mine got married a few weeks ago via Zoom. There were about a dozen live guests, and the rest of us joined the wedding online. As everyone who took part in the ceremony, including the bride and groom, spoke to the assembled group, those of us on Zoom had a great closeup view. We had a rollicking good time, laughing with each other and using the chat feature to the hilt. After the ceremony, the bride and groom joined us on Zoom, and we had a loud round of laughs with them. It's one of my favorite weddings of all time. —Jan Morlock