I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to pause to just watch the sky or clouds for a few minutes today.

I’m lucky in that we often have clear days in Colorado. It’s one of the reasons we moved here, because of the weather.  Most of the places above us are either very hot or humid.

However, when I saw this tip, it was cloudy. In fact, it was in between our storms last week. I went outside, snow covering everything, temps about 30F (around 0, –1C), and clouds everywhere. It was a blanketly cold day.

I had to go out and manually disconnect the arms from the gate to try and get it closed. There was too much snow for them to work, and I needed the gate closed so baby Phoebe could enjoy a day out.

I drove up, ski pants and gloves, and slowly dug out the gates with hands and feet. I’d forgotten a shovel, but I managed to get to the connection pins and release the gates. I then cleared snow to move them closed and tie them shut.

I took a few breaks, stopping to stare back at the house, looking out in the distance, enjoying the crisp air, watching the clouds in the big sky.

A good break from work, and an enjoyable chore.