A Timely Seclusion

“There is a charm in solitude that cheers.
A feeling that the world knows nothing of.
A green delight the wounded mind endears.
After the hustling world is broken off…”(John Clare)

Let’s face it. Covid -19 has required an immense personal sacrifice for over two months now. As each day’s routine now seemingly feels the same, I’ve thus dutifully followed the recommended plan to stay wisely at home, stop non-essential travel, trust shopping online, and make use of “virtual” mediums to avoid direct human contact. Yet in spite of these safeguards, increasingly it seems that I feel trapped like a prisoner in my own home. How about you? 

So many puzzling questions thus quickly arise about easing the strain of my semi-quarantine status. How can my wife and I avoid infringing on each other’s personal space to conduct our own private lives? By what means can I effectively deal with my “cabin fever” which festers negative mind distractions that are psychologically harmful? What steps can I take to avoid eating out of idle time boredom ? How can I energize my daily routine to avoid sitting in sedentary laziness on my living room couch?

So with social distancing firmly in place now and for the unforeseeable future, I’m determined to shift my awareness to finding more productive opportunities outside. Picture me then taking up bike riding again as I often did as a restless teenager seeking new adventures growing up in South Florida. Yet a spirited ride for me as I continue to endure this health crisis rut will serve as a much needed escape from home to new places of solitude/silence. I’ve thus thankfully discovered that the visually stimulating grounds of nearby Nova Southeastern University serves as an ideal destination for my daily biking endeavors. For here I can pleasantly “soak in” the subtropical natural beauty of South Florida as spring time emerges as well as reviving my “happy day” passions of my youthful college past. So join me in my quest for serenity as I pedal quietly around NSU’s main campus on a gorgeously sunny weekday morning in the following photograph display.

The NSU Taft and Rosenthal University Centers normally bustle in daytime with campus life. But as I passed by these impressive looking landmarks, the soothing presence of flowing water from a “Shark” mascot fountain seemed to take center stage” in my attention today.

This statue of famed South Florida entrepreneur Wayne Huizenga sitting under a pleasantly shaded tree tempted me to sit contentedly next to him for awhile on this shaded bench.

In the late 1980s, I taught freshman college classes as an adjunct English professor in the Parker Building below. Being no longer “caught up” in the time driven dash to and from class from those days, I discovered a freshly new outlook of these environs by conducting a pleasant walk along these lush vegetative corridors.

The current Miami Dolphins training facility prominently stands out along the northerly perimeter grounds of NSU. Yet the eerie silence emanating from these locked facilities provided a stark reminder that spectator sports might soon become for me a much more solitary hobby.

The diverse ecosystem of tropical flora at NSU’s Medicinal Healing Garden nearby the Parker Building provided a secluded place for me to quietly unwind from Corona’s life challenges. Good idea that I brought my insect repellent here today.

Self meditation also provided an inspiring activity at the NSU Healing Garden as I found the perfect flower to focus my full attention on.

I often stopped to read at benches set along a picturesque loop path overlooking Gold Circle Lake near the NSU Administration Building and Law School complex.

Plenty of hungry reptile and aviary life also congregated at Gold Circle Lake to keep me company. I never realized that iguanas love bananas.

This inviting park bench area outside the NSU bookstore provided positive memories of my youthful energy to embrace the act of serious textbook study sitting outside as a graduate student in the past at NSU. Incidentally, the need to find Wi-Fi access was not a big issue back then.

Does this open green at NSU look like a nice place to unwind from a stressful day in class? Does anyone feel like throwing me a frisbee?