During this time of uncertainty, the author vacillates between being outdoors and binge watching “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” (Photo courtesy of Kat Sorensen)

During this time of uncertainty, the author vacillates between being outdoors and binge watching “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” (Photo courtesy of Kat Sorensen)

Tangled Up in Blue: Lonely among us

I set daily goals to accomplish during this universal pandemic, a different kind of frontier.

What do you write about when everything has changed so quickly?

I don’t need to detail anything going on in the world, updates stream in hourly across phone screens and down news feeds. I don’t want to harp on social distancing, self quarantining and washing your hands. I do want to try and live my daily life as normal as I can, with the caveat that nothing is normal these days.

Last night, instead of heading out to meet friends, I stayed in and started another episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” While traveling through space, the final frontier, I set daily goals to accomplish during this universal pandemic, a different kind of frontier.

Seward was announcing their first positive case of COVID-19 and I was promising to watch less, read more, drink more water, exercise daily and do more pushups. And stay positive, it’s important to be positive.

These goals, though, are nothing new. They are eerily similar to my New Year’s resolutions — even in the face of massive upheaval, we still want the same things, to be healthy and happy.

This morning, I practiced my personal social distancing and accomplished one of the more important daily tasks — remember, you can still go outside — with an hourlong ski in the fresh air. I had second thoughts as I went to blow a snot rocket, but besides that I enjoyed a mindless ski on a regular Thursday.

In the winter months, snowflakes trickle or dump down and transform the Kenai Peninsula.

At Russian River Falls Campground, the beautiful road leading into the campground magically becomes an aggressively long uphill climb with the bountiful reward of scenic vistas overlooking the Kenai River.

The Lost Lake trail up to the Dales Clemens Cabin takes a different route in the winter months, with a wall of snow blocking the path between you and the cabin. It takes a lot of huffing and puffing to crest the top, and a good pair of microspikes on icier days, but be sure to look back and see the town of Seward below you and how far you have climbed.

Winter brings immense change, but we adapt, we find new routes and new ways to travel, new ways to connect.

So, what do I write about when things have changed so quickly and drastically across the world? I write about the ways they’ve stayed the same, about how I still ski in the springtime solitude, only hearing the occasional chirps from birds as they, once again, return.


By KAT SORENSEN

For the Clarion


More in Sports

tease
Thursday: Kenai, Tri-Valley, Bartlett notch End of the Road Shootout victories

The Kenai Central hockey team defeated Soldotna 7-6 on Thursday in the… Continue reading

Homer's Paul Minke wrestles to a pin of Soldotna's Harold Rudstrom on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna wrestling celebrates senior night with dual victories

The Soldotna wrestling team hosted Kenai Central, Homer and Ninilchik for senior… Continue reading

Soldotna celebrates a goal by Daniel Heath on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
Friday, Saturday hockey: Kenai sweeps Kodiak; Chugiak sweeps Soldotna

The Division II Soldotna hockey team dropped a pair of nonconference games… Continue reading

Nikiski celebrates winning the championship Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in the Class 3A state volleyball final at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski volleyball denies Kenai a state 3-peat

The Nikiski volleyball team defeated Kenai Central in the championship match, then… Continue reading

tease
Soldotna girls, boys both finish 3rd at Lancer Smith

Both the Soldotna girls and Soldotna boys wrestling teams led the Kenai… Continue reading

Kenai River Brown Bears goalie Owen Zenone makes a save on Luc Plante of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Brown Bears get 1 point out of 2-game set with Ice Dogs

The Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated the Kenai River Brown Bears 5-2 on… Continue reading

The Kenai Central hockey team mobs Logan Mese after Mese scored the game-winner in overtime against Chugiak on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, at the Kenai Multi-Purpose Facility in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai hockey stops Chugiak in overtime

The Kenai Central hockey team defeated Chugiak 4-3 in overtime in nonconference… Continue reading

Soldotna junior Sarah Brown sets the ball during a 3-1 loss to Dimond on the first day of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska. (Bruce Eggleston/matsusports.net)
Thursday: Kenai volleyball cruises to state semis

On a first day of a state volleyball tournament at the Alaska… Continue reading

Most Read