Life as I knew it changed over the weekend; last week, for me, is a fading dream. There’s a lot of noise, calamity and misinformation out there, but the smartest voices are saying the very same thing: STAY HOME. I saw a funny meme that put it best: If our parents and grandparents could go off and fight for humanity in WW11, we can hunker down on our sofas and watch Netflix.
Putting on some Irish ballads and making Corned Beef and Cabbage was just the tonic I needed to shake away my fears.
Even with my thoughts on the thousands who’ve been affected by this virus, to be honest, a couple of weeks ago I felt that some of my friends were overreacting. Wishful thinking––I’m good at that. And I’m also a slow learner. But the rapidity of how fast this virus is spreading has kicked me in the gut. The hashtag, #flattenthecurve, is now my battle cry.
If you’re sad, depressed and lonely, well, every one of us is on this collective journey staring down the same enemy. All of us. At the very same time. (Maybe not those of us under the age of 3. But even they are picking up the vibes.) Weird, huh? When has this ever happened in our lives?
Tomorrow I’m making Spaghetti Carbonara, one of my favorite comfort foods! Thank you, Italy, for your food!
The Italians, under coronavirus lockdown, are keeping their spirits up singing from balconies and cooking elaborate meals. You may have seen the U tubes and pics on Instagram—their glorious spirit is reassuring. I don’t have a balcony, but I am updating my playlist and, of course, cooking up a storm.
As Linnea put it in The Ruby of the Sea, “….at least for me, when combining ingredients for a recipe, I can give shape to the mess. With life, it’s not so easy. When depressing thoughts set in, the hum of the refrigerator and thwack of my knife stares my sadness down.”
Times are strange and scary, but we need to do things that make us happy. Read, laugh, cook, dial-up your friends. Give yourself a hall pass to while the day away on social media, if that’s what it takes to cheer you up. We are humans; we need to connect.
We are in this for the long haul. But as my father (who served in WW11) was fond of saying, “This, too, shall pass.” And it will.
In the meantime, Here’s one of the many UTubes that I’ve enjoyed.
