Coping with Corona: Take some time to remember the good times

PLAINS TWP. — Well, here we are, home alone.

Are you enjoying self-isolation? Social distancing?

Take some comfort in knowing that we are all in this together and together, we can get through this COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, we are faced with coronavirus and its restrictions. So we must find ways to keep ourselves occupied and amused.

Yes, we have the television and its wealth of entertaining and informative shows. We can play games. Or search the internet. Or talk to our friends and family via social media, texting, or actual phone calls.

On the weekend, I did what most of us are doing — grocery shopping at the top of the list, after daily prayers. I found myself purchasing items I haven’t purchased in years, mainly because there aren’t a lot of choices out there — shelves are pretty bare. Don’t get me started on the hoarding thing going on — see toilet paper scarcity, for example.

So after completing necessary errands, I searched for something to watch on TV. Reruns of “Two and a Half Men” are at the top of my list since real sports are on hold for now. Yes, I miss March Madness and golf tournaments and the start of Major League Baseball, but it is what it is for now.

Sunday evening I decided to go for a ride — why not, gas is at $2.30 per gallon, right? So off I went to Harveys Lake, a place that has always been dear to my heart. And as I circled the lake, I was stunned by the lack of activity. I saw two guys in a boat fishing and I thought, now they have the right approach to this pandemic.

But as I neared Sandy Beach, or what remains of the Sandy Beach I once knew, I got a bit melancholy. I slowed down and looked around, not seeing the old pavilion where Eddie Day and the Nightimers played as we danced all night. Gone was most of the beach itself, where we would lay out and soak up the sun’s rays while listening to WARM the Mighty 590 play the songs of the day. And the drive-in screen is long gone, but the memories kept coming back.

I remembered arriving at the beach one Friday night for a dance with three of my pals loaded into my 1966 Pontiac GTO — powder blue with a white rag top. A beautiful car, but a terrible machine. Anyway, I pulled into a space by the drive-in and somehow the car stopped — all four wheels were off the ground — the chassis was resting on the elevated ground.

I laughed as I remembered pushing the car backwards until the rear tires returned to the ground.

When I got home Sunday after my drive, I made my dinner, courtesy of my dear friend Barbara Shevock DiGiovanni: Homemade piggies, mashed potatoes and cream corn — a meal fit for a king.

It’s a real blessing to have such good friends.

Good luck to you all as you meander through the next couple of weeks. Rely on your family and friends. Stay positive.

And take some time to remember those good times.