Creative Ways to Hang Out

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With the coronavirus keeping everyone cooped up in their houses, one thing people miss the most is their friends. I want to give some ideas to everyone who hasn’t been able to see their friends since the coronavirus shut everything down.

The coronavirus has caused schools, sit down restaurants, and other public areas to be shut down. People have to be six feet apart at all times to help slow the spread of the virus. When people are indoors it’s easier to spread the virus because the air is recirculated, so the best way to hang out with friends is to do it outside.

The easiest things to think of are sports that we are used to playing. Playing catch with a football is a good way to stand dozens of feet apart and still have fun. I would recommend wearing gloves since touching the same ball could spread the virus. H-O-R-S-E is a good game to play with a basketball because it doesn’t involve playing defense, which could spread the virus. Each player could have his or her own basketball, or use gloves to touch the same ball. The players should make sure to stand six feet apart at all times.

Sports like soccer don’t use hands at all so there is no need to wear gloves. Another fun thing to do is change the rules a little and play soccer tennis. To play, we just kick the soccer ball back and forth over the net. After finding a tennis court or tennis net, soccer tennis is great because partners stand so far away from each other there is no need for a mask. Obviously, real tennis goes hand and hand with this since partners are standing on opposite sides of a court.

Another good idea during these times is to go golfing. It’s easy to keep six feet of distance between partners, especially if they don’t share a golf cart. Going to a driving range is also a good idea. Again everyone should keep six feet of distance. One sport I never thought to try is disc golf. Disc golf is another sport where players naturally stand six feet apart anyway. There’s no defense and the players won’t ever touch the same disc, so it’s a perfect sport to play without spreading the virus. There is a course at Burns Park.

Playing disc golf got me thinking about other kinds of golf, so I also tried out footgolf. There is a footgolf course on the Burns Park golf course. I bring a soccer ball, and kick it towards to hole that is marked by a flag. Since players won’t be using the same ball, using their hands, or be within six feet of each other, footgolf is a great sport to play with friends during these times.

Swimming in a chlorine pool is actually a pretty sanitary thing to do during these times. I wouldn’t recommend going to a public pool, but chlorine will kill the virus. I would recommend getting the chlorine water all over everyone as soon as possible, and keeping six feet between everyone there.

Another thing I have done during the outbreak is setting up a ping pong table outside. Standing on opposite sides of the table keeps partners a safe distance apart. I wouldn’t recommend playing doubles though.

Hiking, biking, and walking on trails have probably become the most popular things to do during these unprecedented times. Because the trails are so crowded now, I would recommend finding a less well-known trail to do activities on to minimize contact with others. Arkansas has many incredible places to go that no one ever thinks of. Pinnacle Mountain is only one of the hundreds of hikes to do. We should try to find a not-so-popular hike, and try it out with friends following six feet behind.

Don’t stay cooped up at home all day. There are things to do in the sunlight to still flatten the curve and slow the spread of this virus. In these unprecedented times find the bright spots, and get some vitamin D.

Walter Flanagin

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