Pandemic Journal - Day 59

My right earring hole closed up.

This morning, as I headed out to try my first "pick and click" order at Kroger, I thought I'd slip on some earrings. As if that is going to help my bushwacked Covid Cut.

To my surprise, the holes were nearly gone. The left one I found ok, but the right one seemed iffy. I found the indentation but the hole seemed to be gone. After a little push, the earring went on through, but I see hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball on my ear in the near future.

I will have to make a point to keep my earrings in today and then remember to wear them more frequently. I may even need to sleep in them. 

This staying home all the time stuff can wear you out!

My first pick and click order was short, as in, they didn't have about half of the items I'd requested. Junk food seems to be easy to find - if you want potato chips or peanut butter, generally speaking, you're fine. If you want meat or vegetables, good luck with that.

For the first 10 years of our marriage, we lived out of the freezer. I worked and went to school, and I went to the grocery store as infrequently as possible. I simply didn't have time for it. After I finished my education and began working from home as a freelance writer, I found a trip to the grocery store could sometimes be the cure for whatever was ailing me.

I began visiting the grocer weekly and instead of stocking the freezer, I stocked the refrigerator. We've grown used to eating freshly purchased meat, vegetables, and fruit, not frozen items.

I'm trying to switch gears and rethink our food choices. I have a decent stock of frozen beef, but my husband has gout and isn't supposed to eat red meat but once a week. I don't particularly like red meat myself. We have turkey I froze from a bird I cooked in early April, but we're short on chicken. My husband can eat fish but I cannot (I have a fish allergy). We have fish, so I will substitute fish for him on nights we'd normally have chicken.

We also don't have any pork in the freezer. We do have a lot of frozen vegetables and canned fruit. We aren't going to starve. But this is one time when my dislike of cooking really is a hindrance. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to whip up sauces and such that are beyond my abilities.

When I was very young, my favorite sandwich was a lettuce, mayonnaise and cheese sandwich. It is starting to look like that may have to become a sandwich staple again.

Virginia is scheduled to begin reopening Friday - hairdressers and service workers, etc. Restaurants can reopen with a limited clientele. People like me who are at risk because of a previous health condition are supposed to still stay home.

I have no idea when I will get a haircut. Probably not until late June, at the earliest. I am waiting on the numbers to go down, but instead they keep going up.

My husband seems happy to be retired. I'm glad he is happy with his choice. He assures me we will be fine and I believe in him, so I know we will be.

But I think we will be "fine" in a new and altered state.

*****

In the political world, I read that #45 tweeted every 7.5 minutes yesterday. He seemed very upset with some leaked footage of former President Obama, who said the rule of law is in jeopardy under Barr's leadership at the Justice Department. I would think a president would have more to do than tweet, but maybe he ate a bad burger and needed some down time.

I fear for the country. Many want it to be less than it was, and they want everyone to have less, too. I'm not sure why this is as I do not have that mindset. There are people who "got theirs" and while yes, they worked hard and created their own wealth, they had a social cushion that their grandchildren will lack.

I'm not sure my niece and nephews will have Social Security or any kind of social cushion. I'm not even sure I will get my Social Security. I fear my niece will not have the pro-choice freedoms a young girl may need in order to ensure her financial well-being. Many people do not consider this to be their problem. They got theirs and if we or the younger folks can't "get ours" too bad, then we're not doing something right. The fact that the economic forces may be stacked against us does not occur to people who do not study the entirety of the formulas that make up the world.

Blinders keep one immune from seeing the poor and destitute and understanding that for many, no matter how hard they worked - maybe even harder than you ever dreamed - they aren't going to get out of the rut they're in. Social and economic forces are against them. For capitalism to work, someone must rich and someone must be poor. It's a barbaric and brutal economic system that rewards those who show their fangs and claws, and leaves the meek behind.

The meek shall inherit the earth, the Bible says. But it will not be in my lifetime.