Over the past month, we here in Southwestern Pennsylvania have been experiencing above average precipitation, including snowstorms and other winter-related events. As such, many of my weekends have had me battling Cabin Fever, something that many people experience when they are trapped at home by winter weather conditions.

Growing up, I have always struggled battling cabin fever. Back then, I was really trapped due to the location of my parents’ house and the fact that we were really trapped in unless a real effort was made to get out to civilization. My dad worked for the local street crew and as a result many times were at home or either with my grandparents because of the inability to leave our secluded location.

In those days, I had to entertain myself or fall in line with what the rest of the family did. There was no Internet connection or things like that. We did have Cable TV, and VHSs were the ways of watching videos in comparison to today’s streaming services. I could remember when there were several video rental stores in our small city, anyway I digress. In those times, I had to partly find ways to keep myself busy for long periods of time and sometimes I had to rely on my mother as that source of entertainment, which was challenging in its own way because she tried her best but often was challenged by counteraction of distaste for one thing or another.

Looking forward to the present moment,  I am proud of the fact that I had Cable TV installed at the beginning of the month. It has been a great source of entertainment being able to watch some of the best shows that I have ever been accustomed to knowing as time evolves. Additionally, I have been able to get caught up on many things including a book that was bought for Christmas, magazines and newsletters that need to be read on top of the continual newspaper subscriptions that come in the mail. Doing so requires me to take part in the maintenance of the ancillary sidewalk from my front door to the street where the sidewalk is cleaned by property management, where I can retrieve the mail on a constant basis.

Part of this is also keeping a consistent routine and finding anything and everything to keep me busy. But having Cable TV, books and other things that need to be attended to are big assets in assuring that things can be done in allowing time to pass by when doing things with others is not possible. Winter Weather is a thing where I live, whether I like it or not, it is here. It is up to me to do what I need to do to manage my mental health throughout the times that I must rely on myself for my personal entertainment, although I have family and others to support me, I know I must do some of the work on my own to combat Isolation.