A Simple Way to Reduce Social Stress in a Pandemic Winter
As predicted, the return of cooler weather has pushed many of us Northern Hemisphere-dwellers back indoors amid a rising second wave of the pandemic. In places like Washington state and Toronto, Canada, snowballing Covid-19 rates have prompted local health officials to discourage residents from socializing with anyone who isn’t a member of their household — including outdoors. And across the U.S., governors and other officials are urging residents to keep their Thanksgiving gatherings small and avoid traveling for the holiday.
For those of us living in regions where similar recommendations haven’t been made (at least, not yet), the question of how to socialize, and with whom, remains open. Will you mark this strange holiday season with socially distanced hangs around the outdoor Solo Stove with a handful of fellow (thwarted) travelers? A Zoom-hosted to-do with the whole extended fam?
Whatever your immediate plan, your social life is about to get a lot more fraught. With Covid-19 rates in much of the U.S. and Western Europe now surpassing the first-wave peaks of spring and summer and a fresh round of stay-at-home restrictions coming into effect across the U.S., meeting with friends in a park or backyard might not be a risk you’re willing — or able — to take.
