Coffee Break [28/12/20]

barnyz

Hope all of you fab Deadsplinter friends are having a nice end of 2020 – relaxing as much as you can.  As stressful years go – this ones been a doozy. On that note – what helps you relax? I need to be around trees, so taking a hike is my usual go to zen activation. When I’m at work and need a quick decompress or ease down from a stressful situation, I watch the explore.org animal cams.

I usually watch owls, but the Decorah eagles are live right now-

https://www.explore.org/livecams/currently-live/decorah-eagles-north-nest

The Katmai bears are hibernating already – but the highlight videos are nice and soothing. 

https://www.explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls

I’ve also discovered saveafox.org on youttube. It’s a sanctuary for fur farm foxes and pet foxes that people have surrendered. Nothing lifts my spirits more than Finnegan fox and his foxy friends. Hehehehehe

How about it Deadsplintery people? What’s your zen?

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31 Comments

  1. Being outdoors, even if I can’t necessarily go on a hike. Walking the dogs and letting them meander and do nose-work for 40-50 minutes lets me calm down during a work-day lunch break.

    • That sounds very nice! I have four of them – so dog walking for me is a bit chaotic – more exercise than zen. Lots of playing jump the leashes.

    • Wow, Pipeline looks a little shitty today and small.  Swell is coming from the wrong direction.  I have almost died out there more times than I care to admit.  When big sets come & you see people scratching for the horizon, your stomach drops and you just start paddling as fast as you can!

      • @loveshaq  I know this is a question you probably get asked a lot – but do you see sharks when you surf? or dolphins? or any really cool marine life? or do they mostly just stay away?

        • I’ve seen sharks about 10 times when surfing, they are usually hard to see but when the sun is behind a wave you can see the shadow.  One place we surfed often had a “resident” shark that would cruise through often, a tiger we called Ole Brownie.  He was a 12ft tiger & you just gave him lots of room and tried not to look like a sea turtle.  You see lots of sea turtles and if they seem to be swimming around you too much, assume a shark might be in the area and they figure they will eat you first.  One of my friends was attacked by a large tiger shark in the ’90s but the board got stuck in the sharks mouth and he had no injury other than a fear of surfing for a long time.  I was with him the first time he went back out and of course, we saw a shark.  He shook it off eventually.  Hard Rock Cafe offered him $10,000 for his shark bit surfboard but he wouldn’t part with it.  I have unfortunately never seen dolphins surfing but I have seen about 100 spinner dolphins from shore & a few kayaking.  I was once surfing by myself really far out about 5 miles from Pipeline in a known shark area with my girlfriend on the beach watching with binoculars,  I would look in at her to see if I was staying out too long every once in awhile when I saw her waving her hands and freaking out.  I caught a wave in and she claimed a huge fin popped up by me.  I thought she was joking or seeing a turtle when I looked back out and saw a humpback breach.  That is about my best sea life surf story.  I swam with reef sharks feeding in Bora Bora which was the weirdest and safest I have ever felt around sharks, that was my coolest shark experience. 

          • I found some of the story of my buddy’s attack…
            https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1992-11-26-1992331172-story.html
            He was on shark week for awhile too.  It was right in the middle of a string of attacks and they started wanting to hunt sharks but Hawaiian’s believe sharks are their Amakua or family guardian and don’t want them hunted.  They caught one they thought attacked Rick by the matching the jaw to his board bite but they stopped hunting tigers shortly after that.

          • I know it’s a lame fear, but I’ve never tried to go surfing because of my intense fear of sharks. Even though – I’ve gone snorkeling many times and actually seen some sharks – and weirdly, I wasn’t afraid.
             
             

            • I only ever think about it when I am paddling to the surf spot or when the waves stop and I’m just floating.  When the waves are good, you don’t even think about it at all.   If you are afraid of sharks too much you can try wake surfing.  This is an advanced video but it is really not hard to do when you start with a rope, just have to find a friend with a boat setup to do it.
               

          • Also, I realized I didn’t finish my comment – that humpback whale breach and knowing it was that close to you sounds so amazing. 
            My most favorite thing in the world is to go whale watching. If that had happened to me – I know that I would’ve peed in my pants right there for everyone to see – and I wouldn’t have even cared. 

      • Yeah, today is pretty quiet but the past few weeks have had some huge days. I’ve never seen waves like that in my life and it’s one of my goals to get there and see them in person before I croak. That’s so cool that you’ve been surfing there. Cool and scary!!

    • There are so many good cams on explore.org – pretty much something for everyone. I haven’t checked out the Pipline one – going to add it to my list.

  2. Animal cams are very soothing, thanks for the links @Lymond
    Playing with my dog brings a smile to my face no matter how tough a day I’m having. Yoga is a great stress reliever. And I got a Switch with Animal Crossing for Christmas, it’s sweet and calming. I think I’ll be playing it a lot over the winter. 
    The Deadsplinter community is a great place to vent and feel supported too. ☺️

  3. for me its being outside near water..i especially love the reflections after dark
    course…if i lived near the sea i’d probably never not be on the beach
    anyways…mostly i just use music to keep me sane…ish

    • My aunt inherited a small lake house from her ex husband on the unfortunately named Strom Thurmond lake. It’s a huge lake and not many people are ever on it except holidays. I’ve been unemployed the whole time so we’ve spent most of covid going there. I have to sheepishly say – quarantine for us hasn’t been that bad. 

      • had to google strom thurmond as ive never heard of him…..umm wow…he was maybe just a teeny tiny bit racist
        but…unfortunatly named or not….i would love to live lakeside

  4. Like Farsythe, I’m a “by the water” person–whether I’m outside-outside, or indoors, but can see the water.
     
    And I learned a few years ago, that although I *prefer* seeing the seasons change on a lake or river, that even a pond/slough will work, to keep me sane through a MN winter.
    I just NEED to be able to see the seasonal changes happen on water–otherwise by about the end of February, I start to have some BAD levels of “the winter will NEEEEVVVVVVVERRRRRR end!!!” feelings, and my mental health starts to go a good bit sideways.
     
    But if I can see water, the visual changes in the ice calm down my lizard-brain, and stop it from freaking out, about winter “never” ending😉
    Sometime in late February/early March, you see the ice go from a “bluey-white” to shades of purpley-blue…. once those purple & almost dusty-rose colors start to show up, the ice is starting to rot…. after that, it’ll start cracking up/apart, and you’ll see water open up again…. 
    And for whatever reason, I need to SEE that process happen. Too many years of my life have been spent within a mile of multiple lakes, the Mississippi River, or both… and I’ve realized over the last 20-ish years, that the lake/river thing is vital for me to stay ok,through our long,cold, seemingly never-ending winters up here😉
     
    The years i had my worst seasonal depression were the years I spent in college in my late teens/early 20’s. All three up in Fargo, and all three nowhere near water. I worried when I moved to Uptown a couple years later, that I’d fall into the same depression over the winter, but my commute took me past the lakes every day…
    No depression that year, or any of the OTHER years I drove past them, since. And that was what made me realize that it was the sight of time on the water, that helped me get through the winter.

    • I’m a Pisces & truly a fish out of water if I can’t see the water.  I get really claustrophobic if I am in a place where I can’t see water for too long.  I grew up with a view of the water and when we finally could afford a house with a view of the water it was like I could finally breathe again.  Now my relaxing place is to just go on my deck, watch the ferry go by, the sea birds, and a nice sunset with a cocktail.

  5. …I guess for me I find my zen in some contradictory places?

    …like one sort would be somewhere out doors where you can’t here people…with or without a dog to walk…but preferably with trees or water or both…but another would be a good conversation…which is hard without people but sometimes can be achieved with a really good book

    …hammocks are also good?

  6. Driving aimlessly with my favorite music turned up is one of my favorite ways to escape. Having an old car and also trying not to go places has put a damper on it this year, but I used to often drive to any city within a few hours just to end up at their Target or Costco. Make an afternoon of it. I miss doing that. This year now I just take long loops around the city before I get my curbside pickup. 

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