WEBVTT - The joy of killing time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to rediscover some old fashioned forms of fun.

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<v Speaker 1>Many of these were deliberately about filling time, or some

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<v Speaker 1>might say killing time. Modern sorts off and feel we

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<v Speaker 1>don't have time for such things. But over the past

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<v Speaker 1>few weeks, well we've learned otherwise. The circumstances aren't ideal.

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<v Speaker 1>But the good news is that on the other side

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<v Speaker 1>of the world's lockdown to slow the spread of the

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus will have expanded our repertoire of fun. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>read much literature written before the advent of radio and television,

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<v Speaker 1>you've probably noticed something. Authors such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen,

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<v Speaker 1>or Herman Melville wrote stories in a slightly less economical

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<v Speaker 1>fashion than modern authors. The plots longer, the sentences are

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<v Speaker 1>more involved, but honestly, why not. They weren't competing with cable.

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<v Speaker 1>People didn't have other things to do to fill the

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<v Speaker 1>hours after dinner and before bed, so length wasn't a

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<v Speaker 1>downside in the way that modern publishers sometimes consider it

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<v Speaker 1>to be. Length was often an upside anyone listening to

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<v Speaker 1>this podcast presumably still has access to the internet, but

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<v Speaker 1>with school and activities canceled, many people have more hours

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<v Speaker 1>to fill than in the past. Screens fill some of it,

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<v Speaker 1>but even the best shows get boring after a while.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's time to recall how people used to kill

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<v Speaker 1>time and realize that in many cases, killing time isn't

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<v Speaker 1>a bad thing at all. One of my favorite hour

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<v Speaker 1>filling activities is big puzzles. Well, a two piece puzzle

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<v Speaker 1>might fit in a busy day. Long days call for

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<v Speaker 1>big ones, a thousand pieces pieces. Why not gather the

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<v Speaker 1>family around a big table and chat as you each

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<v Speaker 1>work on your sections. I'm also a fan of giant

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<v Speaker 1>lego sets. Over the past few months, my ten year

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<v Speaker 1>old and I have been working on a replica of

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<v Speaker 1>the Empire State Building. We flexed our lego building muscles

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<v Speaker 1>on a Christmas gingerbread house set, and now we're feeling

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<v Speaker 1>more capable of bigger things sets that take more time,

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<v Speaker 1>because taking time is kind of the point. Baking can

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<v Speaker 1>feel lots of time. My husband's been baking bread. I

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<v Speaker 1>collect magazines from the nineteen fifties and nineteen sixties, and

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<v Speaker 1>some of the recipes and old issues of good housekeeping

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<v Speaker 1>literally require all day. But if everyone's around the house

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<v Speaker 1>all day, this might be less of a downside then

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<v Speaker 1>it seems at first glance, of course, you can really

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<v Speaker 1>get into the little house on the Prairie lifestyle and

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<v Speaker 1>take up sewing or other needle crafts. Every time I

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<v Speaker 1>read the Laura Ingles Wilder books, I picture the family

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<v Speaker 1>sitting in front of the fire, with Pa reading or

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<v Speaker 1>playing the fiddle and Ma stitching something. Sewing clothes for

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<v Speaker 1>a family of six certainly takes a lot of time.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't have to make our clothes from scratch these days,

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<v Speaker 1>but cross stitching and elaborate pattern can fill many a

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<v Speaker 1>happy hour, especially now that no one is supposed to

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<v Speaker 1>be going out of the house for happy hours. There

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<v Speaker 1>are really all kinds of old fashioned time killing options crosswords,

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<v Speaker 1>card games, long board games like Monopoly, or risk scrap booking, quilting.

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<v Speaker 1>When we're running around from place to place, it's easy

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<v Speaker 1>to assume we have no time, and so we feel

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<v Speaker 1>the time we do have with the easiest thing available.

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<v Speaker 1>Hence the two hours daily that even people with full

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<v Speaker 1>time jobs and kids clock watching TV. If you're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to work from home while home schooling, your kids are

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<v Speaker 1>chasing toddlers all day. You may not have energy for

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<v Speaker 1>anything else. I get it. But if you're not in

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<v Speaker 1>that situation, these long hours present an opportunity to try

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<v Speaker 1>something else, and maybe, just maybe, when life gets back

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<v Speaker 1>to normal, we'll remember that a great many other projects

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<v Speaker 1>are possible. What sorts of old fashioned time killing fund

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<v Speaker 1>do you enjoy? You can let me know at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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