As 2020 continues its excruciatingly slow toilet flush swirl towards the clogged drain that is November and the United States Presidential Election, many of us are finding ways to catch our collective breaths and imagine a life again free from clogged toilets and their contents (apologies for that laborious and perhaps too pertinent metaphor, brother Eric). Oh well. Tedious or not, I'll continue with the toilet metaphor. (My brother is very generous and forgiving in that way) It takes a lot of effort now-a-days to keep your head out of this poop swirl. Baby steps, my friends. But you gotta take care of yourselves before you can fix all of the corroded pipes of 2020. Here's some suggestions on how to do it: Write a note to a pal. Write a thank you note to someone you may or may not know. Read printed words, give the phone and computer screens a rest more often. Put more music into your ears, reduce the amount of talking heads going to your brain. Go explore Bandcamp to find your new favorite music. Practice identifying birds that you see in your neighborhood. Catch up on writing. Perhaps catch up on writing blogs. These small things are helping me keep my head up, I hope that you can find similar activities which help you stay out of the swirl, at least to give yourself a bit of a break. I'm not suggesting that we keep our heads buried in the sand - not at all, now is the time to speak up, call out the poop swirls when you see them. Just don't fall in. Balance, buddies. Onward!