Pandemic of 2020

Pandemic Diary Day 1

March 25th

I read somewhere that we should be writing down our thoughts through this horrible time. I always find it easier to express my thoughts through the written word, and I also agree, this is a unique time in history, and writing about it makes sense to me. It is interesting to me how the mundane things that help us get through the day are what keep us on keel and sane.

At the very same time, the world is experiencing deaths in the thousands, and that is so incredibly frightening that it seems easier to write about the mundane with the false sense that it will keep the boogie man at bay.

So here goes.

I am a consumer of the written word, and I had been reading a considerable amount about what we now call Covid-19 long before it was on many peoples radar, I was scared. I fall in the “elderly” category, although when that happened I have no idea! I also have asthma, so I had discussed with my 83 year old neighbor/girlfriend Mari about our both Sheltering In Place (SIP). I then discussed the exact same thing with my 90+ year old mother who lives in Sacramento, and she had pretty much adapted the idea on her own. The following day the Mayor of San Francisco called for a city wide lock-down and just a few days later the Governor of California put the state on full lock-down. I applauded! and I still do.

Even our past Governor got into the spirit — check out his video and his two tiny horses here.

So, I had to consider a few things, first was how to fill my cupboards with food, and the second was how to keep exercising to make sure that I didn’t sit on the couch for months eating mindlessly.

I ordered a stand for my road bike, waited a few days for its delivery, and after fighting with it for a day or so I was off riding while going nowhere. It is terrific, I ride each day for one hour while bouncing between the business channel, the news and a mindless palette cleanser of Hallmark Channel.

I had to get used to the fact that ordering groceries and having them delivered was going to be my new normal. In case you are wondering, I started hoarding toilet paper during the 2007–2008 market crash, so my cupboards were already full of TP.

I began eating like I normally do, oatmeal in the morning, fruits and vegetables as they were available and a broiled chicken. This mundane diet was so often interrupted by dinner and lunch out with friends that at the time, it didn’t seem as incredible boring as it sounds. I knew, however, that without the supplementation of restaurant meals I was going to lose it, so yesterday I cooked a big pot of Jambalaya. I hate cooking for one, and I realized I didn’t have to, I put servings into take-out containers and dropped them on neighbors doorsteps, rang their doorbells and went home before we had any contact.

I still go to my friend Mari’s every night for wine and the news. We had been together every day leading up to this, so if one of us had it, we both did, so we felt safe seeing each other. We don’t let anyone else in our homes and we are social distancing when together, but it does keep both of us sane by having face to face conversations. Besides, she would never be able to handle the tech of video cocktails.

What do I do with the rest of my day? I read. This is a luxury that I can afford because I don’t have anyone in the house disturbing me.

So much of this diary is going to be about food and the books I am reading, but I hope to add how I feel about what I am going through, and how I feel about what I am seeing and reading during this crisis.

Let’s see how this goes. And, if you like this idea please clap and let me know. Thank you