I try to keep my streaming services to a very limited number, but I recently was given a year free of Apple + with the purchase of an iPhone. I must be honest, not much appealed to me at first perusal. Too many kiddie shows and programs aimed at family entertainment.
A photo of a mother elephant with her offspring caught my eye, however. To be honest, nature programs are almost never on my “to watch list”, but something called to me when I saw the documentary entitled “The Elephant Queen.”
Directed by husband and wife Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble, the cinematography is amazing with up-close filming of mammals, birds, insects and weather conditions.
The tag line says it all: “A story of love, courage and coming home.” There truly is a story line with a 50-year-old matriarch leading her Kenyan elephant tribe to water, food and safety, with joys and sadness along the journey. Chiwetel Eijiofor is the resonant narrator.
I am still not generally a fan of nature shows, but this lovely and engaging production may be the ticket if you want to take a vicarious trip to the wild.
When all of the negative and scary news starts to get you down, consider visiting the Great Big Story initially launched by CNN.
The Great Big Story site hosts short films on a myriad of topics that will amaze and uplift you. For kicks, type “Paris,” “London,” “China” or “Italy” in the subject line which will bring up short films for those of us who would prefer to be traveling the world right now.
Libraries have two strikes against them during this Covid-19 outbreak. They are not considered essential services and they risk attracting numbers of people who may catch or spread the disease. I understand the rationale, but if ever we needed the comfort of books, it is now.
If you are an Amazon Prime member and a Whole Foods shopper, you owe it to yourself to download the Whole Foods Market app to your phone. Letting the check-out person scan your app gives you an immediate 10% discount on yellow tag sale items. There are also Prime Member Deals throughout the store. At check-out, you can also use your cell phone number if it is listed on your Amazon Prime account. Being a Prime member does seem to make the Whole Foods experience a little less painful on the wallet. 
I no longer get a paper version of the New York Times delivered to my home, so this audio slice of the paper was a welcome find. Each episode goes into depth on a particular topic and ends with one of the day’s most important events. I definitely feel more informed after my daily brief audio dose of the NY Times. 
Brainwaves, an app for your phone or tablet boasts 35 binaural programs that combine brain waves with ambient music, nature sounds or your own iTunes music selections. Binaural means using both ears so the app works better with earphones.