Sheltering at Home Day 5, Saturday, March 21, 2020
Years ago, when Jon and I were planning our first big trip as a couple — to Europe — I wondered what Jon would want to do and see. The Mona Lisa? The Berlin Wall?
Even as we traveled, I wasn’t sure what Jon’s sightseeing priorities were. I knew what I wanted to see. I wanted to stand inside Europe’s mighty architectural wonders: Paris’ Notre Dame and Berlin’s Gedächtniskirche. It wasn’t until we got home and I took a look at the photos Jon had snapped that I realized what Jon’s idea of a traveling good time was.
It was towers.
I saw photo after photo of towers. Photos taken of towers. Photos taken from towers.
And vegetables.
Vegetables and fruits. In whatever city we visited, I realized, Jon had arranged for us to climb the local church bell tower and stop in at a local grocery store. I hadn’t noticed this pattern until we got home and our vacation pictures came back from the developer.
Tomatoes, peaches, cauliflower, garlic. My young husband couldn’t help himself. Wherever he was, he wanted to see the fresh produce.
But Can He Stay Out of Supermarkets?
Which brings me to Day 5 of our government-mandated stay-at-home-and-keep-your-microbes-to-yourself policy.
At age 79, should Jon stay out of supermarkets during this COVID-19 epidemic? He’s in that vulnerable, over-age-65 category. Should he venture into the local Safeway or Lucky, armed with a handful of anti-bacterial wipes, to pick out tonight’s dinner?
Let’s see. What looks best? The asparagus? The artichokes? Which bananas are crying out to be taken home? Which seedless grapes? Which mushrooms for Barbara’s lunch-time salad? Red peppers or yellow?
I miss my Zumba classes, but there’s no way I can slip out of the house and sneak into a forbidden class. Our gym is closed. Classes have been cancelled.
But the supermarkets are open, and Jon has been tempted. “I know exactly what I need and how to find it in the store,” he’s been saying. “I’ll be quick.”
“Please, don’t,” I’d say.
He would go anyway. My blood pressure would rise. And so would Jon’s.
Kicking the Supermarket Habit
And now, finally, after a long phone conversation with our worried son in Minnesota — who apparently wants to have a full complement of parents and parents-in-law when COVID-19 has blown town — Jon has relented. He will stay out of supermarkets. He will go cold turkey on his grocery shopping habit.
And so, yesterday Jon went on line. Which he likes to do almost as much as he likes perusing bins of artichokes. Unfortunately, the grocery delivery websites are still a little wonky here in the Bay Area, and it wasn’t clear whether we would get our delivery yesterday or next Wednesday.
Full of hope, Jon filled out an order, revised it a couple times, and hit Submit.
What arrived at our house yesterday was the best — times two. A half hour apart, two young, and let’s hope healthy, delivery people arrived at our house.
Part of our order got doubled somehow and we were now the happy owners of six heads of romaine lettuce, 28 apples and four dinners worth of asparagus.
I’d offer to share. But you probably don’t want our microbes.
More travels with Jon at “A Totality Disappointment in St. Joseph, Missouri.” See also, “The Politics of Housework Revisited.”
Enjoyed reading about your quandary! My quandary living in a small town not on lock down is who has touched or sneezed on those green onions I must have with my orzo arugula salad? I am pretty comfortable with foods I can cook, but fresh foods like romaine,? do I use hand sanitizer on tomatoes?
You are a gifted writer….with a great sense of humor just like Tinka ❤️
Anne, Thanks so much for remembering my mother. She had a great sense of humor, always quick with a repartee, which I think she liked to share with her golf friends. Watching her at work as a kid, I probably decided that a sense of humor was going to be essential to a satisfying life.