Finding beauty, peace, comfort as virus sends our world into a tailspin

The village of Zaanse Schaans on the banks of the Zaan river, features tidy houses, working windmills.
If you've always wanted to visit Amsterdam, you'll find the spring tulip cruises are advertising now.

WITH TRAVEL STOPPED, TIME TO FIND PLEASURE IN SIMPLER THINGS: MUSIC, ART, NATURE, CREATIVITY

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS

The lights are dark on Broadway and near Times Square,
but we're keeping the creative juices flowing writing parodies
and tributes to some of our favorite musicals.

PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

WE'VE WRITTEN a Broadway homage to connect us to the theater we so dearly miss. Check it out:
https://youtu.be/tIw1N6CXL2g

 This rainy day photo features a small harbor in Toulon, southern France.

Like everyone, our "normal" is no longer. This column specializes in travel, art, concerts and plays. But since our scheduled stories feature events and venues closed and deserted until at least month's end, we're improvising, in the best show biz tradition.

Bonaire is famous for its flamingos. Cruises will again have Bonaire
on their itineraries. Have a look at our feature on this lovely island. 

 Wonders of St. Croix
Until things are "normalized," we're writing, taking photos and sharing some of our favorite travel photos, hoping they'll give readers ideas for lifting the cloud, dispelling the gloom.

The Amalfi Coast makes good armchair reading. There are many
books in the library, and on line, featuring the fabled cliffs and inlets.

We are cheering ourselves up during these stressful times by looking to the future. Try it. Dig out those backlogged brochures you got from your travel agent or Triple A. Go on line to look at favorite cities, print out profiles, study the hotels and tours.
We're reviewing the itinerary for the China-Australia-New Zealand trip we just cancelled. With some revisions, patience and luck, we'll be able to replicate it.

Montana could offer a closer-to-home trip. Here,
sandhill cranes invite you to join them near Fishtail.

If you already have a big trip booked and it doesn't look like it will materialize, use this fallow time to check out refund possibilities. Then consider a trip closer to home.
What about checking out the place you've always wanted to go? Nothing like being an armchair traveler when we're told to stay at home.

This young Vietnamese woman was a helpful guide.

Amalfi's beauty calls
Have you always wanted to traverse the Amalfi Coast, visit Sorento, take a canal ride in Venice? Yes, Italy is hurting now, but it will rebound. So will we.
Thinking of visiting Vietnam? Why not chart out a trip now? You'll have your ducks in a row by the time the crisis is over.
You get the idea. Go with it.

Northern California's coves and extraordinary coastline and beaches
offers a chance to explore, commune with nature, enjoy. 

UP NEXT: Another week of pretty pictures, travel ideas and suggestions for clinging to sanity as the world sits still and confused, and life as it knew it is no more. Art lives on, though, and we're mining our creative in isolation, planning for the future.  You can do the same, using whatever talents you possess.  Take an armchair trip up the California coast, dust off your guitar and play a song. Bake something. Make something. Keep active. It's a time to be inventive and think outside the box, staying healthy and keeping to the rules of self-isolation. We can still explore, learn and live (for a while, let our exploration be through books, art music and contemplation.) We'll be back on track with whale watching and international travel as soon as possible.