This previous weekend, January 24-25, a snowstorm hit the Hingham area. Data compiled from multiple sources, like Boston 25 News, the Patriot Ledger and OpenSnow, revealed that during the storm, Hingham accumulated around eighteen to twenty inches of snow. This weather urged the governor of Massachusetts, Maura Healey, to advise all to stay home and off the roads due to the plows not being able to keep up with the rapidly falling snow, stated a GBH news article. She also suggested that people should charge both necessary and unessential electronic devices, because the chance of power outages was not out of the question.
These harsh conditions, and the Hingham Public School closures on Monday and Tuesday, left people with nowhere to go nor much to do. For some, snow days feel like a much needed rest, but to others it feels like a boring period as they turn to doomscrolling to pass time. Finding an interesting activity or two to spend hours to days on usually assures that the participant will stay content and involved as time flies by. Sometimes, it is easy to want to find an activity but hard to find a place to start, so suggestions can be a great idea!
- Test out a new recipe
Unless a recipe requires immense focus or practice to create a worthy product, baking and cooking should not be highly taxing activities. Not having factors like a lot of equipment, ingredients or even having a source of heat to cook with, can limit the types of food that can be made but rarely brings the process to a full halt. Also, if skill and practice are an issue, it is important to remember that it is common for something to not turn out perfect. Unless something goes wrong to prevent the food from being edible or salvageable, there will always be something to eat in the end, which is arguably the best part about cooking or baking. With a limited pantry, finding a recipe that fits the constraints is often frustrating. The easiest way to find something that works is to find a large collection of recipes, like one from Taste of Home, or to look up the specific ingredients at your disposal.
- Find a time consuming craft
Crafting and art are common ways to destress after a long week, because, in many instances, art is not supposed to turn out a specific way and will vary from person to person. Junior John Hamilton spent his time doing a large paint-by-number project and said, “I don’t usually have the time to do such a long project, so I enjoyed spending a few hours painting. It’s not a super stressful activity, so therefore I can put on something or listen to music while I do it. I also like having a piece I can display and be proud of and also enjoy the process.”
Many stores such as Michaels and Hobby Lobby carry craft kits, such as paint-by-numbers, and smaller parts of independent projects, such as yarn, fabric and paint. Downtime throughout a week can also be a good time to pick up an artistic hobby such as cross stitching or knitting. These often could be learned through YouTube videos or gatherings in the community, such as the knitting group in the Hingham Public Library.
- Connect with a friend
With schoolwork, social life, activities and tests, it is easy to go a while without communicating with friends. Relationships are often enhanced by the knowledge of the other person, so checking in every now and then, especially with long distance friends, can bring up topics and details that you never would have known. During snowstorms, there is a large chance that other people are looking for someone to have any type of conversations with. FaceTiming or calling a friend or group of friends is a good way to spend hours connecting and can easily bring a smile to your face.
- Go sledding
As you grow older, sledding or playing in the snow can seem childish or uninteresting. Despite this, getting a group of friends together and getting lost in the nostalgia of sledding can result in memories that mimic the old ones and creates new fond memories to look back on in the future. There are quite a few places to go sledding close to Hingham; For example, Notre Dame Academy and the South Shore Country Club golf courses are popular locations for all ages.
- Pick up a book
Reading is a pastime for many, but even the most avid readers often cannot spend hours reading without sacrificing their sleep or effort like schoolwork. Having a large amount of downtime, like days off from school, can set the perfect setting for anything from an hour to a day of reading. Freshman Kelsey Wightman states, “I read Misery [by Stephen King] and part of my school book. I would say reading is a better activity than doomscrolling because, while reading, it makes me think more and it makes me imagine rather than just looking at things and dissociating.” Understanding the plot and events of a book can take focus and concentration, so if it is not your style, opting for a book written in modern language and about familiar topics could be favorable.
- Find an interesting podcast
Much like books, if there is a known topic, there is probably a podcast about it somewhere. Platforms, like YouTube, Amazon Music, Pandora, and Amazon Music are only some of the many places podcasts are found. One good thing about podcasts is that not only are there a wide variety of them about many known matters, but they can also be listened to while doing things such as crafting, baking or numerous other activities. They are normally listened to for either entertainment or informational purposes about a favorite subject, so once a person finds one they enjoy, it can keep them hooked for many episodes, which span about forty minutes on average. Some of these series only have up to a few episodes that do not come out anymore or on a consistent basis, so that is an important factor to keep in mind when getting hooked on a specific one.
