Sometimes I listen to music on my walks, maybe a podcast: Hidden Brain or The Moth. Mostly, though, I simply walk, looking at the flowers and trees and waving at other walkers and their dogs. (And yes, we keep six feet away from each other.)
If I did take longer walks, maybe I’d dream up ideas for new stories or novels as I go. Even on shorter walks, though, various subjects do flit though my mind.
I suppose it was inevitable that after weeks of social distancing, I would think about Robinson Crusoe, the extreme example of someone who survived away from human society.
I read Robinson Crusoe when I was a kid, past the age for fairy tales and into the romance of stories of adventure and sailing ships. I loved Treasure Island and Mutiny on the Bounty. Maybe that explains why as an adult I was happy to move to a little island in the South Pacific and why I eventually wrote a novel set there. (When in Vanuatu, coming out next year.)
Robinson Crusoe, which came out in 1719, has become one of the most widely published books in history. The original title was: The life and strange surprizing adventures of Robinson Crusoe: of York, mariner: who lived twenty eight years all alone in an un-inhabited island on the coast of America, near the mouth of the great river of Oroonoque; … Written by himself.
Nope. It wasn’t written by himself. It was written by Daniel Defoe, but he drew on several real-life castaway stories.
The story in Robinson Crusoe has plenty to hold the reader’s attention: shipwrecks, pirates, cannibals, and mutineers. I vaguely remember all that. It’s Crusoe’s perilous predicament and his cleverness at finding ways to make a life for himself with no one around to help (until Friday came along) that has stayed with me.
Even though our predicament during this pandemic may not be an everyday battle to survive, it is indeed real. And, like Crusoe, we’ve needed to adjust and innovate. And so we have. We’ve started holding meetings on Zoom. Some of us get our groceries by pickup or delivery. Others sew masks, take up new crafts and hobbies. Parents become teachers. We learn new recipes, bake bread and chocolate chip cookies.
We’re not exactly Robinson Crusoe, but we are adapting to a shipwreck of a situation that none of us chose.
How are you doing? Stay safe.
I know I’m late to commenting here, but this really resonated with me — at some point (and I can’t remember exactly when) I was thinking of Robinson Crusoe as well amid quarantine and social distancing. Nice to see you put it so eloquently into words. Also love the photos of cherry blossoms.
The flowers and blossoms are so beautiful in May.
One thing that impressed me in reading about Robinson Crusoe for this post was how many real-life castaways there were in those days. (I suppose there were also lots of shipwrecks.) One, a Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk, spent four years on an uninhabited island, Mas a Tierra, off the Chilean coast. Another, Pedro Luis Serrano,a Spanish sailor, was marooned for seven or eight years on a small desert island in the Caribbean off the coast of Nicaragua. None of them, like Crusoe, for 28 years. But then, authors tend to exaggerate.
Beautiful photos of springtime. It’s difficult to wrap my head around how lovely the natural world looks right now– and how people are behaving in such ugly ways in response to the virus. Weird times. I do love the last photo. Chalk art at its best.
I don’t remember being particularly impressed by springtime when I was growing up. Maybe I just took it for granted. But also it seems that there are a bigger variety of flowers and flowering trees available now than there were years ago. These are definitely weird times. We’re living through a historic event. I hope we won’t disgrace ourselves.
It’s so nice to go outside and see colorful flowers and the hope of spring all around us. Thanks for sharing your pics!
Yes, especially on a sunny day. I love the look of pink blossoms against a bright blue sky.
Enjoyed scenes and thoughts from your walk, Nicki! Stay well.
Thank you, Nancy. Springtime is beautiful. You can point your camera in any direction and find a good shot.
Shipwreck indeed – nothing will ever be the same.
I think you’re right, Judith. It’s hard to imagine what our country and the world will look like when this whole thing is over. It’s even hard to know when the pandemic will get under control. The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy thinks it will be in 18-24 months.
Your photographs are always magnificent, Nicki. I apologize if you’ve mentioned before, but are you using your phone or a camera? Simply stunning.
Thank you, Jill. I just use my iphone. It’s so easy.
Matching art and blossoms! Kids around here are doing geometric masterpieces with painters tape and chalk.
I think generations before us had more patience. They had to, without the instant gratification/information that the internet provides. No wonder people are out in the park without masks now.
Soon there may be a run on colored chalk. It’s a perfect little art project.
I know I’m more impatient than I used to be back when I couldn’t find the answer to every question that popped into my mind in a matter of seconds. Of course, looking up the answer often leads me to waste time on other things that pop up online. And then I forget what I was looking for in the first place.
A nice parallel between 3 centuries.
Are you thinking of the 21st, the 17th (when the fictional story takes place), and the 18th (when it was published)?
Great connection, Nicki! So apt! Love your photos as well. The sidewalk art matches the color scheme of your photos. You definitely have a painter’s eye. 😀 Have you been able to paint during the quarantine?
I read Robinson Crusoe ages ago. Still have a copy of it somewhere.
Actually, Linda, I haven’t painted in years. But the time I spent painting and drawing helped to form me. I look for colors, shapes, light and shadows in everything I do. I guess you might say, I appreciate art in every aspect of life.
I was surprised to read that Robinson Crusoe is one of the most widely published in history (or maybe not surprised).
Robinson Crusoe is one of those amazing classical reads. I think the time in which his narrative was set is extremely different to ours – he seemed to be alright living alone on an island, and for many of us, we seem to get cabin fever after a few days of being stuck at home when we have internet and so many things around us to keep us occupied.
Really like how you spotted sidewalk art that matched the cherry blossoms. It looked like a lovely walk on a warm day, and hope it’s warming up over there. It seems winter has come a month early here in Melbourne, with much rain too. We’re mainly indoors here and keeping busy at home, and going out for groceries when need be.
Yes, Mabel. The time we live in is so different from Robinson’s Crusoe’s time (and every other time in the past). Any passenger on a trans-Atlantic sailing ship must have spent much of his time gazing out to sea while the crew worked. Being from the American West, I think of the pioneers who crossed the country in covered wagons. What they did was adventurous, but for them, many hours must have been spent just staring out, watching the scenery pass by. Maybe they made up their own stories and songs.
There has been a lot of sidewalk art. I’ll have to snap some more pictures.
I just looked up the term cabin fever. Here’s what the Grammarist has to say: “The image is one of a pioneer spending long winters by himself on the Great Plains, where severe weather and distances from neighbors were truly isolating. The term cabin fever was coined in the early 1800s and originally referred to the disease of typhus.” Interesting.