It’s Thanksgiving in the year 2020. If I have toilet paper on hand, I am thankful. If I have paper towels in the house, I feel grateful. If I have a mask to cover my face to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, I feel blessed. I am glad to be still alive. I am willing to shelter at home. I am relieved that I have food to eat.
I pray I will not succumb to the corona virus pandemic. I plan to stay home on Thanksgiving Day, even though I have gathered with a group of beloved friends for 40 years. I do not plan to host Christmas Eve dinner this year, as has been my tradition for that same length of time. This plague will be with us for some time to come.
As a holiday gift to your family, friends and neighbors, take care to wear a mask if you leave your house, and wash your hands when you return. If you believe this is all a hoax, change the channel on the television or the radio to ones where facts are broadcast. Simple precautions can preserve the lives of your grandparents, your parents, your children or your own.
Saoirse
Small Comforts I Can Count On Every Day
I keep a stack of books near my bed that I have gathered to read in the near future. I always read for a few minutes after I go to bed.
If the book is spellbinding, I sometimes continue to read long into the wee hours of the morning.
Reading never fails to move me away from the trials and tribulations of the day towards tranquility and slumber. It is a small comfort that I can count on everyday. No matter what has happened during my waking hours, I can retire to that small pleasure.
What small comforts do you count on in your day?
The Story of Friday’s Shrimp
Dear Alex,
Thank you for remembering my name when I was there early on Friday morning, even though I wasn't 100% sure of yours. I have loved your small, family-owned grocery store since we moved to this pretty little town forty years ago. I especially appreciate everyone behind the meat counter, and have for several generations of butchers.
Thank you for the beautiful frozen shrimp: I roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, for just seven minutes drizzled with a little olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. They were perfectly cooked! Then I served them with a salad bar, arranged on a Koa wood Lazy Susan that we brought back from Hawaii decades ago.
My friends, Lois and Cynthia, came for lunch that day. Cynthia's sweet mother, Twyla, died last Saturday morning, at the age of 88. Twyla was a gentle, loving mother. We all loved her dearly. Cynthia was with her mother and her other family members in their home town as the light of Twyla's life faded away. As she left, they told her repeatedly how much they all loved her. They thanked her for all that she had done for them throughout their lives.
So, we three friends sat around the kitchen table and comforted one another for our loss: of a friend and a friend's parent. We ate a beautiful fresh salad, tailored to suit each person's taste. Choices included: organic red leaf butter lettuce, red bell pepper cut into matchstick-sized slivers, sliced Persian cucumber, diced green onion and jicama, sugar snap peas, apple chunks, walnuts and shrimp. Topped with a choice of homemade blue cheese, French vinaigrette, or Poppy Seed dressing.
We shared our love and admiration for Twyla, our fond memories of her, and the effect of her absence upon each of us. We expressed our desires for the rest of our own lives and our gratitude for the solace of our life-long friendship.
So you see, every product that you hand to a customer creates a story. This is the tale of Friday's shrimp.
With warm regards to you all,
Saoirse
During this time with the global spread of the Covid-19 virus, our lives are disrupted in so many ways. You may be "Sheltered at Home" alone or with your family. You might be working on the front lines as a First Responder or in a hospital.
Your children are likely home from school. You may be laid off or furloughed from your job. The daily news might worry you. If so, it may be helpful to remember a quote from Mr. Fred Roger’s mother:
The world over, there are many helpers. Think about those people who are in your own city, town, village, or countryside.
For example, call to mind the nurses, and the doctors in the hospitals and the clinics.
Salute the housekeepers in medical settings who clean the floors, sanitize the beds and wash down the walls.
Appreciate the people who answer the phones, who manage the medical records, who provide technical support for the computers, or who order the supplies. Each department is like a beehive of humans devoted to helping anyone who is sick to get well.
Acknowledge the paramedics who race to your address if you have a heart attack or become one of the million people around the earth with the coronavirus who can’t breathe.
Treasure the teachers who scramble to deliver your child's lessons from remote locations because your school is closed.
Cherish all of the workers still on the job: providing clean water to your area, maintaining the electrical power grid, picking up the weekly trash for your neighborhood, or delivering the mail!
There are helpers everywhere! Pharmacists, home care providers, grocery clerks, stockers, delivery drivers, farmers, factory workers, shippers, long-distance truckers, and so many others: who all bravely show up to do their jobs.
Give a shout out to the journalists, who move among us to gather the news, often speaking truth to power.
Make your own list of the helpers in your life. The people you can turn to for comfort or help when you need it. They may be your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or clergy.
Then say “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so grateful for you."
Better yet, be a helper. Lend a hand. Offer comfort. Be a light in someone else’s life.
As Piglet once said to Winnie the Pooh: “Pooh” he whispered. “Yes, Piglet?” Pooh replied. “Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you."
Today I cut some lilacs from the bush near the front porch. I brought them inside and put them in a small cobalt blue glass vase. I set them on the dining room table so that I might drink in their scent and admire their blooms.
Then I emptied out the linen closet. I sorted, folded and organized the sheets, blankets and towels. I labeled each shelf for the linens, so that they could be quickly retrieved. I recycled and set aside items that we no longer need, to donate when we are once again free to move about town without the threat of infection.
It was very satisfying to create a bit of order at home, in the midst of the disorder in the world.
Rather than cook another supper, I called our favorite restaurant, which is closed for dining during this pandemic, but offers curb-side pick-up for take-out food.
I ordered chicken soup, cauliflower salad with pine nuts and currants, plus lasagne. It is the first time that I have been out in a week, since the Shelter at Home mandate began. There was almost no traffic, so the trip across town took only minutes. In pre-Covid-19 times, it would have been nearly an hour commute.
When I arrived at my destination, I opened the back of the van by remote control. Linda, the co-owner, put the food in the box designated to transport the meal back to the house. We exchanged virtual hugs from the prescribed six to ten foot social distance and I drove away. When I arrived home, I carried the box into the kitchen. I donned nitrile gloves to unpack the food. I didn't know all the recommended protocols, so I may have been under or overly cautious.
I just know that so far we are safe, cocooned in our place.
Meanwhile, Spring proceeds with its awakening, sprouting tender leaves on deciduous trees. Pink, white and yellow blossoms pop out on bare fruit tree branches, bushes, or green stalks emerging straight out of the ground.
They proffer the season in neighborhood gardens along the streets and roadways. They precede the fruits of summer. The apples, blueberries, and cherries, the pears and the plums: all promises to come.
Not a bad day, for a shut-in.
As the dear Irish people exclaim: "Slainte Mhaith!” (Gaelic for “Good health!”)
Saoirse
Gratitude
During this time with the global spread of the Covid-19 virus, our lives are disrupted in so many ways. You may be "Sheltered at Home" alone or with your family. You might be working on the front lines as a First Responder or in a hospital.
Your children are likely home from school. You may be laid off or furloughed from your job. The daily news might worry you. If so, it may be helpful to remember a quote from Mr. Fred Roger’s mother:
For example, call to mind the nurses, and the doctors in the hospitals and the clinics.
Salute the housekeepers in medical settings who clean the floors, sanitize the beds and wash down the walls.
Appreciate the people who answer the phones, who manage the medical records, who provide technical support for the computers, or who order the supplies. Each department is like a beehive of humans devoted to helping anyone who is sick to get well.
Remember the police officers, the county sheriffs, and the firefighters, who risk their lives every day if a crime is committed or a house is on fire.
Acknowledge the paramedics who race to your address if you have a heart attack or become one of the million people around the earth with the coronavirus who can’t breathe.
Treasure the teachers who scramble to deliver your child's lessons from remote locations because your school is closed.
Cherish all of the workers still on the job: providing clean water to your area, maintaining the electrical power grid, picking up the weekly trash for your neighborhood, or delivering the mail!
There are helpers everywhere! Pharmacists, home care providers, grocery clerks, stockers, delivery drivers, farmers, factory workers, shippers, long-distance truckers, and so many others: who all bravely show up to do their jobs.
Give a shout out to the journalists, who move among us to gather the news, often speaking truth to power.
Make your own list of the helpers in your life. The people you can turn to for comfort or help when you need it. They may be your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or clergy.
Then say “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so grateful for you."
Better yet, be a helper. Lend a hand. Offer comfort. Be a light in someone else’s life.
As Piglet once said to Winnie the Pooh: “Pooh” he whispered. “Yes, Piglet?” Pooh replied. “Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw. “I just wanted to be sure of you."
A Day Sheltered At Home
Then I emptied out the linen closet. I sorted, folded and organized the sheets, blankets and towels. I labeled each shelf for the linens, so that they could be quickly retrieved. I recycled and set aside items that we no longer need, to donate when we are once again free to move about town without the threat of infection.
It was very satisfying to create a bit of order at home, in the midst of the disorder in the world.
Rather than cook another supper, I called our favorite restaurant, which is closed for dining during this pandemic, but offers curb-side pick-up for take-out food.
I ordered chicken soup, cauliflower salad with pine nuts and currants, plus lasagne. It is the first time that I have been out in a week, since the Shelter at Home mandate began. There was almost no traffic, so the trip across town took only minutes. In pre-Covid-19 times, it would have been nearly an hour commute.
When I arrived at my destination, I opened the back of the van by remote control. Linda, the co-owner, put the food in the box designated to transport the meal back to the house. We exchanged virtual hugs from the prescribed six to ten foot social distance and I drove away. When I arrived home, I carried the box into the kitchen. I donned nitrile gloves to unpack the food. I didn't know all the recommended protocols, so I may have been under or overly cautious.
I just know that so far we are safe, cocooned in our place.
Meanwhile, Spring proceeds with its awakening, sprouting tender leaves on deciduous trees. Pink, white and yellow blossoms pop out on bare fruit tree branches, bushes, or green stalks emerging straight out of the ground.
They proffer the season in neighborhood gardens along the streets and roadways. They precede the fruits of summer. The apples, blueberries, and cherries, the pears and the plums: all promises to come.
Not a bad day, for a shut-in.
As the dear Irish people exclaim: "Slainte Mhaith!” (Gaelic for “Good health!”)
Saoirse