I thought I had led a somewhat checkered life, but I surely did not see this madness coming. My heart is aching for so many reasons.
There is such an enormous, bottomless chasm of unknown that seems to stretch out before us and it keeps my stomach in a knot, along with the rest of you. At least there has been a bit of good humor prompted by the quarantine — because you have to laugh to stay sane, no? My favorites are the ones about things to do while quarantined — like putting a drink in every room and calling it a pub crawl. And I want every mother out there with school-age youngsters to know I think they deserve to wear their tiaras 24-7.
Now the real tragedy at my house is that I am having to cook. I’ve made soup, chicken cacciatore and cornbread. As they are absent of hot sauce or peppers of any kind, my husband is less than enthusiastic. I have decided my Irish heritage makes me a fan of boring food like oatmeal, creamed anything and bread, always with mayonnaise or butter. He needs chorizo, onions, pickles, sausages, spices, Vietnamese fish sauce or ketchup, or it may not make it to his mouth.
The thing I miss the most right now is the old, second refrigerator we used to have in the garage. It became such an energy suck, we decided to get rid of it. I plan to look for a cheap, new one because the kitchen fridge is about to burst at the seams. There are four people in my house, and none of them like anyone else’s cooking. Peculiar, I know. Generally, I will eat very nearly anything that someone else cooks for me, but I draw the line at boxed macaroni and cheese.
Friends and readers, you are all on my minds. You are all in my heart. To the kids from my school, I deeply miss your faces, and your laughter and helping you find just the right book. Let’s all stay healthy and we should be back messing up the library shelves soon, soon, soon.
Jean Gillette is a freelance writer who really isn’t yet having a problem lying in bed reading for hours. Contact her at [email protected].
