Summer is officially here: the days are longer and the outdoors are more inviting, but shelter-in-place rules have not been fully lifted. You can still have the summer you’ve been dreaming of; you just have to make some adjustments. We’ve curated a list of ways you can welcome the new season like you always would while still observing the coronavirus precautions.
EAT Summer is a time for barbecue, fresh fruit and lemonade. If you want to patronize some Black-owned businesses, check out the barbecue from local restaurants like KC’s BBQ and Everett and Jones Barbecue. If you want to make some summer fare on your own, tune in to Downtown Berkeley’s new program, Cooking in Place. On each installment, a Berkeley chef will give you a hands-on tutorial on how to make their favorite dish. If you post a photo of your finished creation on social media with the #cookinginplaceberkeley, you’ll be given VIP take-out treatment on your next order. The first session featured a recipe of Piri-Piri chicken (pictured top) with chef Amy Murray from Revival Bar & Kitchen. Set yourself up for a delicious summer.
TOUR With the warmer weather, you’ll feel the urge to explore the great outdoors. And you can…while observing social distancing. You can take a hike across Tilden Regional Park while wearing your face mask or drive down for a day trip to the redwoods in Santa Cruz. If you’ve opted to play it safe, you can still experience outdoor life by taking a virtual walking tour of Panoramic Hill with Bob Johnson and Janet Byron, co-authors of Berkeley Walks. You’ll start at the International House on the UC Berkeley campus and stroll in spirit up a hill to see a huge hidden treehouse with sights of architecture in the Bay Area Tradition style along the way. Put on your hiking boots or house slippers and explore. Saturday, June 27, 10-11 a.m.
READ Summertime is usually when kids declare their freedom from school, but reading for fun is a great way to spend a semi-quarantined summer. The Bay Area Book Fest is airing a reading of the children’s book, Love by Sophia by Jim Averbeck and Yasmeen Ismail. The story follows a young girl and her pet giraffe named Noodle as she takes a chance by creating a unique work of art for a school assignment. In this book, kids can learn about the power of art, the importance of taking creative risks, and the value of friends and family. Airs on Saturday, June 27 at 10 a.m.
SPORT We can’t ignore the discrimination and violence against Black communities, so now is a ripe time for sports fans to rally. Join the Daily Californian in their first live discussion titled, “Shut Up and Dribble?!: Sports in an Age of Racial Reckoning.” Cal alum and New York Times reporter Kurt Streeter and NFL sports writer Michael Silver will discuss topics like kneeling in protest in the NFL and activism in the WNBA. Listen, support our BIPOC communities, and be an ally. Sunday, June 28, 6 p.m.
SING Nothing says summer like an airy breeze, a cool drink, and the strumming of an acoustic guitar. If you’ve always wanted to learn how to write your own summer-inspired lyrics, now is your chance. You can take a free songwriting class with Coursera that will take you through the entire process of writing a song from start to finish. You’ll learn about the journey of a song, the concept of prosody — patterns of rhythm and sound — and the techniques of mapping your lyrics to rhymes. You can memorialize this unique summer in a song you can listen to forever. Free.
