Beat cabin fever by learning something new

By Abigail Blonigen

It is about that time of year where everyone begins to feel cooped up and restless, ready for spring though wintery weather drags on. Couple that with an entire year of canceled events and social distancing, and anyone is bound to come down with a case of cabin fever.

Fortunately, there are myriad local opportunities for learning new things, creating new connections and breaking out of the boredom rut.

Join a book club

“Winter can be difficult even in the best of times,” said Angel Dobrow, co-owner of the Zenith Bookstore in Duluth.

Dobrow is the facilitator of Zenith Bookstore’s book club, which she believes is a perfect winter activity in Duluth. Since the group switched to a virtual format at the beginning of the pandemic, one can now attend without even needing to shovel the driveway.

The book club meets the first Tuesday of the month from 6-7 p.m., reading one book monthly. Rather than having a theme, the group reads books covering a variety of topics and genres.

“I have had members of the book club say, ‘I never would have picked this book up had it not been on the book club list,’” Dobrow said.

The group at Zenith has folks who come and go, with a core membership of about a dozen people. Prior to the pandemic, they would meet at the bookstore, but they now facilitate their meetings on Zoom.

Dobrow has been in some iteration of a book club for roughly 18 years — larger ones like the one at Zenith, small ones consisting of just her and a friend, clubs with specific themes, even groups where people simply talk about what they are reading as individuals.

“It’s a great way to share ideas,” she said, “to share parts of yourself.”

One benefit of book clubs is that they are self selective, so they tend to bring together like-minded people, Dobrow said. Even so, every book will elicit a different response and interpretation from each reader, which is what makes reading together fun.

“Everybody is reading the same book, but there will be 10 to 12 different interpretations, and all of them get thrown out in the middle of the room. We share, but we also hash things out. We tie books to current events, including current personal events. It really is just a great place for sharing.”

Zenith Bookstore currently has their 2021 book club books through June listed on their website to give folks time to find a copy or go to the library. Book club books purchased at Zenith receive a 15% discount.

To get involved, email books@ zenithbookstore.com and you will be sent a Zoom link for the next book club meeting.

Dobrow recommends everyone join a book club, even if it is not Zenith’s specifically.

“All you need is a book and four or five people who are willing to read it and have a discussion,” she said.

Dobrow is also happy to give pointers and recommendations to those who want to start their own club. She can be reached at the email above.

Tune into a Coffee Break Course

For those who are eager to learn but perhaps have a shorter attention span than a book club requires, the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Center for Continuing Education launched a program called “Coffee Break Courses.”

These 10- to 15-minute courses cover a variety of subjects, from brewing to the modern sonnet to creative ways to connect on Zoom.

“Our main goal with these was to be able to continue to provide short learning experiences for the community, as well as be able to provide accessible programming to our community during this pandemic,” said Danielle Fagan, outreach program manager at UW-Superior.

Over 480 people have registered for the Coffee Break Courses since their launch in May 2020. The courses are hosted by “locally sourced professionals” including UW-Superior staff and faculty as well as community members.

Courses resume in April and will cover a variety of new topics. Register at uwsuper.edu/cce. Registrants will be emailed a link to a YouTube playlist where they can tune in to new courses and view older ones for a limited time.

“We’re hopeful that these bring valuable experiences for people that can support them in their personal and professional growth during this time,” Fagan said. “The feedback that we’ve received is that they’ve definitely been successful in that.” D

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