On Fridays, The Weekender traditionally tells you about great events that San Antonians can do. Clearly that's on hiatus right now, but there are still many things you can do if you know where to look.
Because of COVID-19 you can't go out right now to a ball game with your friends. But Ken Burns' epic documentary series Baseball is available though PBS online for free. No one does more magic with black-n-white footage and the written word than a Ken Burns documentary. His 1994 Emmy-winning, nine-part series goes into such depth that you might even come to know about a lot of things you've never even heard about before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-nlvOQSNdI&feature=emb_logo
Each of those nine parts are filled with surprising little revelations like this one from Part Three: The Faith of 50 Million People, wherein the first two Cuban players were hired by the Cincinnati Reds.
"When questions arose about their playing a white man's game, the Cincinnati management assured the public that they were as pure white as Castille soap," the narrator said.
Burns’ unflinching look at the great American pastime threads the needle his documentaries often do, revealing our collective imperfections with brutal honesty, while still inspiring respect and awe.
Find details on how to watch Baseball on our Cabin Fever Blog at tpr.org, or click the hotlink above.
Also at the Cabin Fever blog there is a link to The Library of Congress. You've always heard of the Library of Congress, but have you ever been to their website? There they have a Book Festival blog where you can hear all kinds of authors speak: Stephen King, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, David McCullough and many others.
Here’s an excerpt from writer and Presidential biographer John Meacham, who was asked this by a fan:
"Would you wait right here? I'd like you to sign my new book," she said.
She went and got her book, and gave it for him to sign. Meacham got a laugh.
"Hand to God, she brought back John Grisham's new book!" he said. "Somewhere in America there's a woman with a forged copy of Runaway Jury!"
If you love books, and you love authors you could spend a lot of time listening to the backstories behind your favorite authors' stories. You can search by author names, or the categories they write in. There's poetry, children's books and a lot more.
The San Antonio Zoo is closed for the duration, but some people can get in. There are those who take care of and feed the animals, but then there is Heather Lynn Love, who does yoga classes in front of lions or bear areas.
"Good Morning! Welcome to the Hixon Bird House at the San Antonio Zoo!" she said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7Zvw5VZxlI&feature=emb_logo
And yes, also in the Hixon Bird House. Her dulcet tones are calming in times like these, but if you get down on the floor and do yoga with her, you probably are going to feel better physically, too.
There are quite a few yoga videos on the zoo website and Facebook page, but there are also live cams — jelly fish and kangaroos, so you can watch what they're up to. There are videos with zoo personnel taking huge lizards for walks, or feeding 100-year-old tortoises. So there's plenty there to keep the young, or the young-at-heart fascinated.
You can find all these things and a whole lot more on our Coronavirus Cabin Fever blog.
Jack Morgan can be reached at Jack@TPR.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii.
