Quarantine Quandaries

I think a lot of people are learning things about themselves and

 each other while being cooped up.

Being alone/together 
24/7
is more than we are used to.
Self isolation has put us in a 
quarantine quandary.

PaulA and I are actually used to spending lots of time together.  
For over 10 years, he’s worked  from home

mainly leaving for business trips…
NYC, LA, Miami, New Orleans, Rome, Madrid
wicked hot spots
but that was 
BC…Before Covid.

Now we live in
AD...Always Detained.
just round trips 
around the kitchen center island for us.

So being at home with each other

through this stay-at-home era

isn't too much different for PaulA and I.

Or is it?

BC, PaulA and I might have missed a couple of meals
but  

AD, we belly up to every meal...eating 3 squares... 

breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

The refrigerator light has never been on so often.

Refrig you later.

The good about preparing and eating 3 meals is it fills out our days.

The not-so-good is it fills out our jeans.

We are also looking for things to do...

so much so, that we are tripping over each other trying to do the daily tasks.

“Hey PaulA,  I was rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher, move over buster”

“ No Kat, I got this."  

"No PaulA, you got it l last night.  No fair. It’s my turn. Stop hogging all the jobs."

We are also keeping tabs on who is eating what.  
Tit for tat. This for Kat.

Who gets the last slice of Dave's Raisin Bread? 
Don’t eat the last egg, it’s needed in a recipe. 

Because we schedule food delivery every 2 weeks…
our meals are planned out.  
The  minute one of us takes an extra slice, helping or brownie...  
it is duly recognized and recorded.

Anywhoo...

We both are still taking power walks, 
but have now decided to go our own way. 

We leave the house at the same time 

catcha later Kat

 and get back to the house an hour later.

peace out PaulA

A walk...alone together.

If you look at the length of Paul’s legs 
you would understand why I might have trouble keeping his pace. 
Plus PaulA has a gizmo that registers healthy steps.  
In order for it to register a healthy pace,
I have to run.
A Kat running along side a Big Dog is a sight to see.

One evening after dinner, 
I suggested we take a casual walk together
not a power walk.  
So we walked an hour…up and down hills, around the hood.
At the end, PaulA checked his gizmo that he carries and
 it said he had ZERO healthy steps.  
NOT ONE???
dang, put that gizmo away, PaulA 

When he power walks by himself he usually has 8,500 healthy steps.  

Apparently strolling with me is like sitting on the couch with his feet up.

There are a couple of clear advantages of us walking alone…
and in our own direction.

First, PaulA gets a good workout...

and
Second, I get time to sneak home early….

re-rinse and reload the dishwasher…

and devour a brownie 

before he gets back.
It will be duly recognized and recorded.

What have you learned about each other?

A Blog Snack

I’ve been writing a a blog since 2007.

I used to write a blog 5 days a week….

like it was my j-o-b.  
blog slog blog slog blog

But that job paid n-o-t-h-i-n-g. 

So I wised up 
and wound down.

 I enjoy blogging for myself and whoever cares and dares to read it.

I certainly encourage readership..

preferably a readerSHIP that is sturdy, strong and won’t sink.

That kind of readerSHIP will always float my boat.

One thing I’ve noticed through my years of blogging is …

 people would rather look at a photo

than read words.

And not just any stock photo that I pull off the internet.

Maybe a photo of a dog?

People love pics of dogs…

but my Duncandog is in heaven now.  

So that just leaves this ol' alley Kat. 

Maybe a photo of me with bedhead?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

so I guess another picture of a Kat with bedhead 

would be worth two thousand words.

Another old adage that could ring true... 

"less is more"
so ringing that bell...

less blog is more.
I need to give it a try.

Anywhooo……

A new food for thought is to

make my blog 

snack size.

People like snacks…

especially during this time of quarantine.
I know I would prefer a snack.

Many will indulge in something if it is bite-size.

PaulA is master of this...  

a sweet trick he learned from his mama.

He will  take a decadent donut and cut it into 7 bite size pieces…

then it magically disappears.

Why sit down to a blog plate 
full of 

 words and run-on sentences 

 resulting in endless paragraphs? 

So from now on...
no more 5 course blog meals

laden with extra gravitas gravy
 that drag on and on,  

weighing heavily.

 Instead...
 something light and easy to snack on...

preferably with

zero calories and no guilt.

My new blog promo...

Indulge in 

Anywho.....

a healthy 
snackable blog...

lean and gluten-free.

Here’s hoping readers will eat it up.

 Snack On

John Prine, Thank you for the Souvenirs

Together,
both here and abroad, 

we are fighting the same enemy. 

COVID 19 

And it is difficult to stay positive 

when there is so much that is negative.

No one escapes it’s wrath.  

Directly or indirectly everyone is affected...  

death, illness, anxiety, depression, 

unemployment, financial instability,  emotional instability,

time away from our loved ones,

lack of business travel..lack of pleasure travel, 

school closings, restaurant closings, retail closings.

No concerts, weddings, graduations, proms, school sports, professional sports.

On and on it goes.

And 
sadly, this week John Prine, a true legend, 

was taken from us by the enemy Covid 19.
(Not only a legend but also a contemporary with 
albums from 1971 - 2018.)

He was such an impressive storyteller 
gifted musically and lyrically….

crafting stories…

funny stories, sad stories, everyman stories. 

Stories of love, isolation, death, and the human condition.

Someone who was able to touch us…

with a turn of a word…

a turn of a phrase…

turn of a concept…

and at every turn 
he had our hearts.

It's only fitting that the final track
on his last album is
"When I get to heaven"
with his plans for the afterlife.
So I guess about now...
he's drinking a vodka and ginger
and smoking a cigarette 9 miles long.
Cuz ya know it's always happy hour round there.

Anywhoooooo.....

Throughout the years,
from college to now
PaulA and I have been getting together with good friends 

who have been John Prine fans since the 70's.   

With a John Prine soundtrack playing in my mind,
I think of...

hanging out with them on weekends …

drinking cups of coffee (pre-pods, pre-Starbucks) 
and reading the Sunday newspapers (pre-digital news), 

hangin' out in the afternoon sun,

chillin' out with great conversation in the evening,

hearin' Billy, Tom and Terry sing his lyrics.
as John Prine plays on in the background. 

For me, his songs 
were a perfectly woven blanket of 
voice, music, and lyrics.
A blanket that wrapped warm feelings of 
true times 
with truer friends.

IN 2008 we all got tickets to

see John Prine in NYC 

at the renowned Carnegie Hall. 

Before going to the concert 
we asked what CD we should listen to

 to get us primed for John Prine???

Souvenirs

We played that CD for weeks …

mostly in the car traveling from CT to Manomet MA....A 2.5 hour drive.  

PaulA would do the driving 

thank ya PaulA 

and I would put in the CD…

put my seat on recline and 
put John Prine on rewind.
someone had to be the DJ

I loved listening to those songs…
as we traveled back and forth that chilly fall/winter.
Feeling the warmth of the sun through the car window, 
and the sound of John Prine's voice and songs…
 I would drift off to sleep…
feeling peaceful, secure, and enjoy that "all's right with the world" feeling.
They were lullabies that fed my soul
and I was wrapped in the warmest blanket 
of John Prine songs.

Those memories are my souvenirs.

More recently we saw John Prine
at the Opry in Nashville...
another iconic venue.

We rang in the 2019 New Year with John Prine

 and it was a NYE to remember...  
good times with Beth and Tom.

More souvenirs from John Prine.

Covid may have taken John Prine's life..
but it will never take away his music 
and the souvenirs he has left us.

Today as I listen to John Prine's songs, 
I remember him,
and I wait 
and 
hope upon all hope
for that
"all's right with the world" feeling.

"There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes"
is a lyric from  John Prine's song Sam Stone.

But for John Prine fans....

There’s a hole in our hearts

where all the tears go…

We will miss you John Prine.

Crock Full

Here’s a crock full…

a true life story about a crock-pot.

Sounds riveting, right?

Question to self: 

How come you've never owned a crock-pot…until now?  

These days crock-pots are a popular bridal shower gift.

Back in my bridal shower daze, 
woks were the craze.

I’m pretty sure we were gifted 3 of them.  

Wok On

Last April, 

(which at this point in our social distancing lives

seems like another life time ago)

we visited good friends in Isle of Palms, South Carolina.

One night we were treated to a yummy pulled pork dinner

which was made in a crock-pot.
Right then and there I decided that

as soon as I got home 
I was

gettin' myself a crock-pot and
fixin' to make a heap of pulled pork. 

trying to sound southern. failed. horribly.

But this newbie crack pot
had many "how to" questions for Miss Debbie
and would need a lot of coaching.

First directive:  "Get yourself a pork butt."

Whaaat?  I wasn’t sure I heard Miss Debbie correctly.

I was hoping it was her southern accent talking…

butt apparently 

I heard her correctly.  

One pork butt. 
Surprisingly the local grocery store carries them.
who knew?

Then came her recipe for a dry rub…

which kinda rubbed me the wrong way…

especially when she told me to rub the pork butt.  

generously.
I draw the line at massage.

Then her secret ingredient...

a can of coke.

(Apparently every good cook has secrets.)

I stopped short of asking Miss Debbie any more rookie questions like 

"what kind of coke?"

so I went out on a limb with regular Coke. 

Diet Coke probably doesn’t help cut calories 

when you're talking pork butt.

Anywhoooo……..

Let’s just say I am not a fan of looking at large amounts 

of raw meat.

And less of a fan of rubbing on raw meat…

butt 

the pulled pork turned out great.

I suppose 9 hours in a crock-pot could even turn 
Colin's crocodile cowboy boots 

into a good meal.

I am now an 

official fan of the pork butt.

Especially sitting down to a ready set meal 
after 

hauling butt around 18 holes of golf

while the other butt simmered.
Wait, which butt simmered?

The pulled pork lasted for days

but on the third day I called 

"stick-an-apple-in-my-mouth"...this porker is DONE.

There’s only so much pork a girl can eat 

before she resembles her pork butt.

All butt jokes aside…

did someone say a side?

Next up…

cheesy grits.

I reckon by then...

 I’ll be a true southerner

Whistling Dixie. 

Anywhooo2....

Over the next 
30 days 
of 
staying at home...
I''m fixin' on pullin' out 
the ol' crock-pot
for a lil 
home cookin'.

But after 30 days...

this butt is 

outta here.

At least I hope.

stay safe y'all

COVID19 Pandemic

This is an 

unprecedented 

unparalleled

and 

unusual time

in our lives.

The COVID19 Pandemic 

Even though the word pandemic contains the word panic…

I try to remind myself to

stay calm and not panic.

Panic brings chaos.

And apparently

chaos depletes our supply of t.p.

I also need to stop watching the TV.

It’s not helping my current mood.

The new normal…is NOT normal.

Social distancing and self isolation is NOT normal

T.P. hoarding is NOT normal.

Anywhooo….

Our world these days seems surreal.

It feels like we are actually living in a modern horror movie....

like the movie “A Quiet Place” 

which I was too frightened to go see when it came out.

At this point, why would I ever see it...

let alone see its sequel AQP2.

I am living it.

In this look alike modern horror movie…

the deadly predator threatens our daily life.

We can’t see the threat, 

but it's out there

somewhere

waiting for us to make one wrong move....

one droplet from a cough or sneeze,

one virus touch to our face.

Impending doom hangs over us;

if we leave our house

the invisible predator could attack.

Should we decide to test our fate to gain necessary supplies

we ease out of our homes;

moving with extreme caution, 

scrutinizing everyone we walk by.

Just hearing a sneeze makes us take cover.

Before the coronavirus we used to say  “Bless you.”

Now we scream (in our minds)  “Must you?”

We move quickly and tread lightly 

through empty streets and quiet neighborhoods...

not wanting to be attacked by COVID19

and then we scurry back inside…to our safe place

before grabbing 

life saving supplies…

toilet paper…

chicken….

eggs…

toilet paper.

Our home is our safe haven…

until a spouse or child ends up with COVID 19 ….

and then we are all toast….

a tasty carbohydrate for the predator.

I'm not sure how the movie "A Quiet Place" ended 

but I'm sure hoping the COVID19  horror movie

has a good ending

and 

NO SEQUEL.

As a distraction, 

we started watching Outlander on Netflix…

a show about time travel between 

18th century Scotland and 1945 England.

During this period of self isolation 

we will all learn things about ourselves…

what we value and

what we think is important.

I've learned to trust that we have the 

intelligence, strength and resolve to get through this

 and 

I've also learned 

I could have NEVER survived 18th Century Scotland.

They say to combat this virus

we should listen to the advice our mamas have always given us.

"Wash your hands…with soap."  

(Washing without soap is giving germs a drink.)

I don’t know about you, 

but I’m tired of washing my hands to the tune 

"Happy Birthday" 

especially twice.  

Both the song and I are getting old.

I have an idea for a hand washing song 

to replace "Happy Birthday."

It should remind us of 

how important it is to work together 

during this difficult time....

The Beatles Tune...

"Come Together"

"Come Together...

(albeit separately)

Right NOW

Over this"

sing this 4 times while you wash your hands

and 

hopefully in a relatively short time

we will get through

and 

OVER THIS.

STAY SAFE. BE WELL.