This week, Tina Schell considers the current global “social distancing” that’s going on and focuses her challenge post on distance. She writes, “Please share with us the creative ways you’ve found to address your need to connect while keeping your distance. Have you found interesting and productive ways to pass the time?” You can read her entire challenge post here.

In Arizona, we are practicing social distancing and we are staying home except for groceries. I am still a hike leader here, but our season ends on April 9. Even on the trail our hiking group is maintaining a single file line with adequate spacing between the hikers. Our group “selfie” was always a “get close” image. Now the hike leader stops the line and takes a group photo with everyone standing in their places, appropriately spaced. Our hikes end for the season on April 9 and we head home to Fargo a few days later.

For my challenge submission, I am generally picking subjects that are some distance from the camera. In the opening photo, the rainbow, the sailboat and the extreme northwest Na Pali coast at Kauai, Hawaii share the image as distant subjects.

The photo above is a view from the National Trail on South Mountain in Phoenix. With a 270 mm lens, it’s possible to keep my social distance from the over 4 million other residents of the Phoenix metro and still get a picture.

When flying our Civil Air Patrol glider, the tandem seating allows for an appropriate social distancing between the pilot and passenger unlike our powered aircraft where we practically rub shoulders in the front seats.

I figure 250 feet (76 m) is enough of a social distance between the tow plane and the glider. The horizon is tilted as the tow plane just finished a turn and is now basically level with the horizon. In a few seconds, the glider’s wings will be level with the horizon as we also finish the turn.

In southern New Mexico, these large dishes are on railroad tracks. The movable collection of twenty-seven radio telescopes can be focused on any part of the visible universe above. Known as the Very Large Array (VLA for short), it is one of the largest radio telescopes in the world and insures that we know about any violations of social distancing by extraterrestrial aliens.

I conclude with a view of the bridge on the Norwegian Pearl, the only cruise ship I’ve been on that allows guests to view the action on the bridge through a large picture window. As you can see, the Captain and crew have a relatively generous social distance between consoles. This image was taken in 2013, long before I ever thought of the concept of social distancing.

As Lynn and I return to Fargo, our state governor has decreed that all snow birds from high impact states like Arizona quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days. When we left for the winter, we had allowed our pantry to dwindle down to but a few items. We are now shopping here in Arizona for groceries so that we can bring them back to North Dakota and not have to violate the quarantine since we have little to eat.

I conclude this post with wishes of good health to you and your loved ones. Take care and follow the guidelines of your local authorities. Stay safe, dear readers!

John Steiner