I know a farmer in Oklahoma who said he was happy as a lark over one of the tornados we had a few years ago. So, I asked him what could make him so happy about a tornado. He told me that it had destroyed an old barn and cleared a lot of cedar trees that were choking his pasture. Now, I don’t know if I am really that happy with tornados, but it seems like the dolphins, fish, and swans are having a great time in the canals of Venice after the city locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
MSN reports that residents of Venice have reported spotting dolphins, swans, and fish in canal waters. The crowds are gone, and the boats are not racing back and forth over the waters, stirring up the bottom. There are some recent photos that have been online. The waters of the canals look so clear you can see fish swimming below. One resident of Venice tweeted: “Venice hasn’t seen clear canal water in a very long time. Dolphins are showing up too. Nature just hit the reset button on us.”
Satellite footage from the European Space Agency shows a drop in nitrogen dioxide over the past few weeks, which coincides with the lockdown of highly industrialized areas in Europe and also in China.
I have heard that social distancing—one of the ways that we deal with the pandemic—is an introvert’s dream. As the world panics over the coronavirus, more and more people find themselves restricted to their homes for the foreseeable future. We are being told to avoid crowds.
One Australian columnist wrote, “Coronavirus has led to calls for self-isolation—and introverts are the experts at quarantine. Introverts have never been understood by the extroverted majority, which assume quiet types are flawed and need ‘fixing.’ Extroverts assume introverts are unhappy in their solitude and should get out more. The world revolves around extroverts, and as a result most people don’t understand recluses. After all, humans are social creatures who crave interactions with others—right?”
But not everyone wants constant socialization, nor can introverts be “fixed.” Socialization for introverts is like eating hot chili peppers: a little goes a long way. Too much socializing mentally exhausts (rather than exhilarates) introverts. They need a lot of alone time to recharge their batteries. Social distancing—bring it on!
