It was rainy and frigid in New England, and
I needed an antidote for the monotony of
pandemic life. Some were tending sourdough
starters, others binge-watched Netflix. I started
piano lessons.
I wasn’t the only one who chose music.
NEW WAYS TO PASS TIME
“I knew nothing about the ukulele community
before COVID,” said Pat Adamson-Waitley, 64, of
Edina, Minnesota.
Adamson-Waitley had played the ukulele a
handful of times, but in March, she said, “I
started playing it every day.”
She joined Zoom jams with other players, and
bought two ukuleles and two songbooks.
Summer’s warm weather took her away from the
ukulele a little, but she still averages 30 minutes
of playing time a day.
Clubs like the Twin Cities ukulele club, an
informal group of about 300 people, have
welcomed many people discovering music for
the first time, or finding it again. Tom Ehlinger,
69, of Bloomington, Minnesota, leads the club’s
weekly Zoom jams.
“One thing that’s different about the Zoom jam
is that it’s much easier to get to than an in-
person jam,” he said. “There’s no traffic.”
Since March, Ehlinger has received inquiries
from people as far away as New York City
wanting to join.
“It brings people together solely for the purpose
of doing something enjoyable,” he said.