Thoughts on Sheltering In
A Pandemic Story, The Early Days*

When I prepared for a long stay at home, I did not anticipate the amount of ketchup my husband Jim would consume. (Going through my mind right now: Carly Simon’s song “Anticipation” while your ketchup is sloowly creeping out of the bottle.) Canned goods, fine, ground coffee, fine, flour, sugar, fine, WHERE IS THE EXTRA BOTTLE OF KETCHUP IN THE PANTRY?

Oh, well, we had to run out of something, right?

Jim wasn’t so much concerned about paper products as he asks, “We’re not going to run out of wine, are we?” I assured him our wine club memberships would not allow that.

Things I have learned in the first two weeks we are sequestered at home:
The pancake recipe only uses one egg. Great for breakfast or lunch. Blueberries for breakfast, diced chicken and apple is the filling for lunch. (I only had 2 dozen eggs, I’m trying to ration them.)

Frozen fruit lasts a lot longer than fresh fruit.

Wisconsin Cheeseman delivers a lot faster than Omaha Steaks, but they charge for delivery, and Omaha Steaks will be free. My husband never says “Omaha Steaks,” he says “Obama Steaks” and now he’s got me saying that.

I found a great recipe for Starbucks Sous Vites Egg Bites and you can make 5 or 6 with just 3 eggs.

You can sing for a nursing home via Skype.

I thought we’d never have fresh food again. Then the Sun Basket box arrived with fresh everything. I nearly cried. They delivered every week without fail, right to the front door. The menus were fun, the recipes delicious and easy to prepare. 

We are fairly prepared. Life is good.

* I realize this should have been published in March. Really interesting to look back and feel the panic rising.

The Blue Diva

In the twenty-third century, the universe is threatened by evil. The only hope for mankind is the Fifth Element, who comes to Earth every five thousand years to protect the humans with four stones of the four elements: fire, water, Earth and air. 

And so the stage is set for The Fifth Element (one of our favorite movies - a 1997 sci-fi with Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich and Gary Oldman). One scene features a Blue Diva, played onscreen by Maïwenn Le Besco.  Maïwenn thought her cameo was quite short and unimpressionable, but she had no idea she would ultimately have a huge cult following. (Especially among sopranos and opera lovers everywhere.) Her performance as the alien diva Plavalaguna is actually lip-synced to a recording by the incredible Albanian soprano Inva Mula. She begins with "The Mad Scene" "Il dolce suono" aria from the opera Lucia di Lammermoor, written by Gaetano Donizetti. It is breath-taking and Mula's voice sounds like melted butter, effortless and perfect.

Ahhhhh. I am learning The Mad Scene - it is lovely.

Christmas Memories

We get so busy at Christmastime - buying and wrapping surprises, preparing orchestra books for church services, planning dinners, going to fun events with family. Sometimes we're running without thinking.

One evening, as we were frantically gathering gifts and wrapping presents, my darling husband Jim wrapped one arm around me, softly held my hand, and dancing slowly, guided me over to the mistletoe. The Christmas tree lights were soft and twinkling, Vince Guaraldi was playing, and for one delicious moment, he tenderly kissed me. Ah! My favorite Christmas memory!