We’re well into day 3 of our self-imposed quarantine and my wife is getting restless. She’s bored and maybe a little cranky. Part of this is that she’s not used to having me home and underfoot. (I’m trying to stay out of her way.) Part of it is that she usually has meetings and other activities that take her out of the house several days a week. Attending church online is not the same as doing to so in person.
She also wishes she had done a better job menu planning and had stocked more “snacks.” We are running low on fresh carrots, but I think she probably means junk food, like pretzels. My guess is that this is compounded by her having given up chocolate for Lent. (Sometimes, knowing you can’t have something just makes you want it more.)
I’ve been preparing for some kind of massive disruption for years, so we have huge amounts of long term storage food tucked away. I’ve also been aware of the novel coronavirus that erupted in Wuhan China for a good two months. That’s allowed me to prep some additional short-term storage foods. For example, I have 12 boxes of crackers in our pantry that I picked up from Costco in mid-February simply because I like crackers. I like them with my soup, with a piece of cheese, or with a dab of peanut butter. In our house, my love of crackers is a running joke. Although I discussed our short-term needs with my wife and shared a list with her, she apparently didn’t get her equivalent of crackers.
I suggested we break out the flour and bake some pretzels. It didn’t go over well.
Lesson learned: Stock more snacks for the apocalypse.
I’ve suggested she puts together a list of everything she needs or wants and we’ll order it from the grocer and have it delivered here. But we need to do it pretty soon because I understand that some of the online grocers are cutting back on delivery services. This will give her a chance to get some more fresh food and I’ll get another three dozen eggs.
I’m going to take her list and double or even triple it, just to cover us for a little while longer. While we were initially talking about a 30-day self-imposed quarantine, many of the shutdowns and closures we are reading about are closer to eight weeks long.
I expect my wife will eventually plant some seeds under our grow lights and several days later, we’ll be harvesting microgreens. If you are not in the know, microgreens are grown in dirt, unlike sprouts, but are still harvested while very young. They are more mature than a sprout but less mature than baby lettuce you would buy in a store. They can be eaten like salad, placed on a sandwich like lettuce, added to an omelet, used as a garnish, and so forth. We have all sorts of seeds and seed mixes on hand so we can get some variety and a different vitamin and nutrient mix.
Dare we Leave the House?
We had a discussion about whether we could go to the post office. She has a package to mail to a friend. I think we compromised on buying postage online and dropping it in the mail box rather than going to the counter and talking to the clerk.
We’re also planning on going go on a hike. There are multiple trails around here, and most are lightly traveled, especially on week days. This is a good way to get her out of the house without any significant risk of exposure.
Please note that if one of us was infected and placed on quarantine to avoid infecting others, I would not go to the mail box or for a hike. But since this is for our own protection, I’m willing to make these small concessions and violate our quarantine.
If you’re dropping by for the fist time, you might be interested in reading the first installment in this series.
