Before I get started on all that. This is my niece Molli. She is nurse. She just recovered from having SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) that she picked up on the job. Here she is going back to work. I am amazingly proud of her. All of my love Molli. You are doing the work the world needs right now.

Now on to the more mundane…

5 Trips – that’s the number of back-and-forth trips between the dining room table and the kitchen I did this morning to set up breakfast for us. Ena is still on crutches so she can’t do things that involve hands AND feet. She can go places, but not carry things. Or she can hold things but not go places. This doesn’t help with coffee, cereal, waffles, etc. So, back and forth I went. I guess I should get a tray and stand. We could be our own little diner. The Phelbach Diner. I want a neon “Eat” sign.

Yesterday, I made a grocery store run. It had been three weeks (“not bad”, says I). We had filled in with Whole Foods delivery when we could get a time slot and an InstaCart delivery. Getting a time with Whole Foods is not easy I might add. I had been trying for two days to get a time slot. People are coming up with the magic mojo for getting a time slot. So far I have heard, “You have to wait until Midnight, then they open new slots” and “You have to check exactly at 6:30AM”. I’m not staying up that late and I have looked at 6:30 without luck.

But I digress. We had hit the point where a fill in shopping was definitely needed. We had run out of graham crackers and Nutella… among other things.

I have to gear myself up mentally to go to the grocery store (and physically too I guess). There is angst to overcome. People really don’t understand what 6 feet apart looks like, how to execute it properly, that they should wear a mask because they might be infected but not have symptoms, etc.

Then there is all the additional faffing when you shop: putting on gloves, grabbing hand sanitizer, putting on a mask, sanitizing things when you get home, sanitizing the car and any other surfaces you might have touched, washing your hands twelve times – then starting the mental “5 Day Clock”. I actually like grocery shopping in Ye Olde Times. I liked seeing what was on and figuring out what to cook. I like cooking and creating meals. Now, it is a no-man land to cross as quickly and effectively as possible without meeting danger.

To add to this, the trees are joyously sexing it up outside. The amount of pollen that is raining down constantly is stunning. We live in the midst of big trees and they are really busy trying to make more big trees. There is a yellow film on everything outside. My nose is running pretty much constantly regardless of the mix of drugs I take.

So ends week 6 of the stay-at-home lifestyle that is probably with us for months if not a year more. Come on science – hit it out of the ballpark with a vaccine soon.

Stay well and safe. Send Nutella.