Creole Jambalaya Fatigue

Well, it's Friday again. In my perception of time, the only day more frequent than Friday is Sunday. I know this because I have a drug (prescribed) which I need to take on Sundays, and it always seems to be Sunday. So many days now mush themselves together.

I saw a meme that said 2020 doesn't count so really, none of us are a year older. Tell that to my body parts which at this point seem to be aging at warp speed.

On the bright side, it's a beautiful, warm, t-shirt day today with no wind, so I was able to walk with minimal allergy discomfort. After my morning trek, I struggled through a jambalaya recipe, the meal which I had planned for today. Personally, I don't really care for any kind of multi ingredient, one dish type food. I guess I'm more like the kid who likes everything separate on a plate. Hubby on the other hand really enjoys jambalaya.

I learned through extensive recipe googling, that there is Cajun jambalaya, and there is Creole jambalaya. The difference is that the Creole jambalaya contains tomatoes and Cajun does not. Since I'm fairly certain that the restaurant meal which hubby likes, is reddish, I opted for the Creole recipe.

Here's the Martha Stewart Cajun recipe I found.

https://www.marthastewart.com/1512701/cajun-jambalaya

I soon discovered why this meal is expensive in a restaurant. Besides having many costly ingredients, it's time consuming and exhausting. I used the following recipe but substituted kielbasa because it's what I had, and because I have no idea what andouille sausage is.

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/jambalaya-recipe/

 Here is my completed jambalaya.

I have made some discoveries which will provide shortcuts should I ever actually consider serving this again.

Shortcut # 1 - Chop all the veggies, chicken, shrimp, and sausage the day before. I now have                                             peppers, onions, parsley, chopped and ready to go in my freezer for many recipes.

Shortcut  #2 - Look at several recipes and find the one that looks easiest. I neglected to do this.

Shortcut  #3 - Go to M&M's Meats and get their frozen Jambalaya. I can't guarantee it's any                                                                good.  Haven't tried it.

Shortcut #4 -  My favourite - Order take out from CJ's restaurant. Go for a walk. Bring it home, and                                                   pretend I made it.

So, we just consumed the jambalaya that it took me all morning to make. It tasted pretty good, even to me. Apparently, the one from the restaurant is preferred. Next time, I'll definitely use shortcut #4.

Covid Cooking

I had never intended this to become a cooking blog, and it really isn't. If I share recipes, it's because I have a plan which I'll explain later.

Recently, a friend and I read and discussed the book, "Recipe for A Perfect Wife,"  by Karma Brown. The author describes the lives of two housewives, one from the 50's and one from present day, both of whom occupied the same home during their marriages. Their stories intersect when the current inhabitant of the house, a hopeful author-wife, discovers the other's recipes which were left behind in the basement.

Although my friend and I originally discussed dressing up and recreating some of the recipes, this idea was soon abandoned, well, except for the dressing up part. She made the meat loaf and didn't like it. I made the chocolate chip cookies and they were good. We gave up after that...just as well, since neither of us were remembering 50's-60's type food with fond memories.

This did give me an idea, however.  I know that almost anything is available on the internet nowadays, but, old recipes, especially family favourites, or mom's versions, are not always easy to find. In fact, my children have been known to ask for ingredients and techniques to create certain dishes that they remember and always enjoyed.

With my daughter now married and living far away, I had an idea for her next birthday. I decided to  create a book of recipes and ship it to her. I thought about the various forms this could take...recipe cards, hand written pages by mom (do I have that much time left in my life?), and so on. Finally, I concluded that if I take photos of things that I cook, and write up the recipes on the computer, I could print them, add little messages/asides/jokes, and compile them into plastic protectors in a binder with a "catchy" front cover. So that's my plan. That's why every now and again, tried and true or even experimental recipes that turned out well might show up on my blog.

Books can be different things to different people. They can be educational,  riveting, thought provoking, shocking, suspenseful, or inspirational. I thank the author of this book, Karma Brown for the inspiration to leave a piece of myself, in the form of "Mom's Favourite Recipes", for my child.
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Pandemic Planting

I am about to make a statement that will be very unpopular.

I hate gardening. There, I said it.

Every year I see people painstakingly working in their gardens. They tend to shrubs, trees, blooms, and make the yard lovely. Some have extensive vegetable gardens. None of these activities have ever appealed to me. In fact, it's beyond the realm of my comprehension how digging, planting, weed pulling, and repeating those steps ad infinitum, or for a couple of months at least, is in any way enjoyable. It makes my knees and back ache just thinking about it.

Having said that, every spring, I shop for, and plant an array of flowers in our yard. I usually spend a small fortune and don't pay much attention to what I select from the local garden centre.  I just pick what I like.  It's  a one time annual deal, just like the flowers. Sometimes, I have a theme, like when Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary of confederation.  I planted red and white, adding a few small flags to the design. It looked pretty.

So this year,  I'm late. The weather has taken awhile to warm up but today, I acquired a solid collection of flowers.

I decided to make the activity a little more fun for myself. Prior to working, I created a short "Mosquito Lady" video to get in the mood. Then I got down and dirty...and I do mean dirty. I was covered head to toe by the time I was finished burying all the plants I had schlepped home. (Turn up volume to fully appreciate my silliness).

After a couple of hours, I  packed away the tools, saving them hopefully for next year. It was time to relax and enjoy my efforts.

Fanatical Tidying, Organizing, or Not!

Every now and again, someone comes up with new and wonderful ways to downsize, clean, de-clutter, or sanitize your house. The books and websites are becoming as trendy as culinary t.v. shows and cookbooks.

Understand that I'm not being critical when I say that I think each person needs to do what they find helpful to them. If spending countless hours folding and organizing your clothing into little squares is what you enjoy, go for it. If setting a timer for twenty minutes to clean areas of your house works, more power to you. There is in fact no area of my house that can be cleaned in twenty minutes, but that's another problem.

Almost everyone's heard of Marie Kondo and her philosophies by now. She's a delightful young woman who shows you how to "spark joy" by folding and organizing your underwear (of which you shouldn't have too many), into tiny bundles that stand up on their own, like little soldiers in your dresser drawer.

During this time of covid isolation, I'm continuing to provide entertainment for myself. Through it all though, I have to give kudos to hubby for tolerating my nonsense.

As I  was folding laundry last week,  I decided to Marie Kondo the sheets. That means, once they are
folded in the correct and most space efficient manner, they get placed inside a pillow case, never to be seen again. While I was doing this, I figured, why not add some pizzazz. Wow...never noticed before that the word pizzazz has pizza in it. Reminds me, it's lunch time. But alas, I digress.

So I located a ribbon, tied everything up, and left the sheets on the bed for hubby to put on the high shelf. He probably had no idea what to make of this new found pillow-like package. It was too early by a week or two for his birthday.  By the way, I doubt Marie would approve of the wrinkled case and the disorganized bow, but alas, I have to save some part of my persona lest I turn into too much of a ***Stepford wife.

It's not as though I don't have any goals or plans for each day although it's not the way it used to be when our agenda was overflowing with trips, meetings with friends, doctor's appointments, dinners out, baseball games, etc. Nowadays, the calendar is empty, save for the occasional Walmart curbside grocery pickup...our biggest outing. Apart from that,  everything is limited to what can be done around the house, inside and out, or on a walk. I guess that's about it. 

I am not, nor have I ever been a person who can blindly and rigidly follow a schedule that's laid out. I also have a limited attention span, often moving on to another thing while abandoning the first. You might call me flexible, spontaneous, scatterbrained, or whatever other word fits the category.  So I told my friend who follows the Fly Lady website, that I'd more likely be a gnat or a mosquito lady. 

Based on that idea, I came up with my own "Mosquito Lady" plan. When we were first in lockdown as I like to call it, because it sounds better than isolation, quarantine, or captivity, I was a mad cleaning machine. I had this crazy idea that I could get my whole house tidy and sterilized in a few days...something I hadn't accomplished in years of living here because I actually had an active life. I also thought I could pursue all the hobbies I'd never had time for. End result, it didn't happen. Part way through, I became resentful, fed up, and went on a ***"Dead to Me" Netflix binge.

My new plan because I am retired and fortunate to have the luxury of doing this, was to do housework and cook for an hour or two in the morning. Then after lunch, go for a walk, pursue hobbies such as reading, writing, practicing keyboard, painting, crafting and lingering in the tub (not necessarily everything every day or in that order).  This has made me much happier.  

I do occasionally make lists and meal plans, but that's difficult for me because it's not in my nature. On the other hand, I've done some pretty odd, out of my comfort zone things lately and found them strangely satisfying.  

Perhaps I'll just go binge watch some Marie Kondo videos on Netflix after all.

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***Stepford Wives - A 1970's Ira Levin book and later a movie about a group of men who created robotic versions of their wives. These robots were physically perfect and also immaculate house keepers with no individuality or interests other than keeping the men happy.

***Dead to Me - Good show. Great cast. Somewhat irreverant and unlikely, with terrific writing and cliffhangers at the end of each episode. Not everyone's taste but the clever writing makes it mine.

Lazy Veggie Moussaka

I used to make eggplant parmesan. At some point, I lost the taste for it. I think the problem is that I'm not much of a tomato fan,  plus I got turned off by the incessant heartburn that comes with pregnancy and/or old age. I'll let you decide which category I fit into.

Details of my tomato aversion are in a previous blog dated 9/16/10 "You say tomato and I say bleeachhhhhhhhhhh.....".

I do not mind eggplant, and since Walmart curbside pickup sent two not one, and more zucchinis than I had ordered (a whole other blog), I tried a new recipe. It looks lengthy and complicated but it's not any worse than making lasagna. It's definitely more nutritious without all the pasta carbs, and just a bit of yummy fat.  Also, I learned that you need to be flexible, especially these days. So I bent over backwards...not easy at my age, and created this from what I had lying around the house...food items that is. Because I wanted to make it meatless, I looked up regular and vegetarian/vegan options. I combined ingredients and procedures that I found online, with my own ideas, then adapted and simplified the recipe because I'm lazy. It's a bit of a process, but not that difficult. It just has a few steps. Ingredients are in red letters. French terms are my attempt at chef-speak.

By the way, it was delicious. It can get a bit salty so be aware when adding this ingredient. Also,  please excuse my comments and asides. I can't seem to help myself.

***Fun Fact - I was curious as to what moussaka, a Greek word, means in English so I google translated it and you'll never believe it! In English, moussaka is....moussaka.

                                   
                                                      VEGGIE MOUSSAKA A LA HILDE

Prepare and set aside the following while preheating oven to 400 degrees.

2 medium eggplants partly peeled and sliced lengthwise
3 potatoes, peeled, sliced lengthwise
3 medium large zucchini sliced length wise. Put on paper towels on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, leave 30 minutes to remove liquid and bitterness, then dry off.

 When eggplant is dried, put all sliced veggies on olive oiled cookie sheets and bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Bechamel Sauce  (can be prepared while eggplants are salted)

Equal amounts butter (or olive oil), and flour (approx. 1/2 cup of each)
salt/pepper to your taste
3 cups milk (warmed...essential)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions - In a large saucepan, melt butter or heat olive oil depending on your preference. Be careful not to burn. Stir in flour, salt, pepper. Stir with wooden spoon to create a roux. I think a roux is a fancy french cooking term for a combined lump of flour and melted butter. (see pic) Using a whisk, gradually add warm milk, whisking to prevent lumps. Continue cooking until slightly thickened, stirring with wooden spoon again. Add nutmeg.

Cover pot in wax paper to prevent layer of skin from forming. I put a lid on top of waxed paper. You can probably use plastic wrap or paper towels but I can't promise you'll remain skinless.

 
Lentil Sauce

Make this when veggies are roasting in oven.

Lentils  I used a normal sized can of green ones, drained and rinsed. They were nice and small. Buying dry, soaking, cooking etc. is too much work. I feel like black beans would work in this recipe as well, but haven't experimented yet.
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can crushed tomatoes - I used flavoured "Aylmer Accents" (made in Canada),
because I like it better...whole undrained can. No, they don't pay me for my endorsement.                                      ***Note to self - look into getting paid.
1/2 cup broth or water (if you want)
1 tsp. dry oregano
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
olive oil tablespoonish

Instructions - In a decent sized pan, saute (French for fry 'em up gently) onions and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes until it smells good. Add lentils, tomatoes or accents, broth or water (I didn't add any because I left the liquid from the canned tomatoes in there), and spices. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Assembly - the fun part

I used a 9x13" casserole type baking dish. I know this for a fact because during covid isolation boredom, I decided to measure all my pans and write the sizes on the bottom with permanent marker.

Covid Query - Why are baking pans measured in imperial and not metric? Could it be so that they can bake in a Fahrenheit oven?

Pour half lentil sauce in the bottom of pan (hopefully it's not too runny...mine wasn't).  Layer the veggies in an order of your choice. At this point, if you want but not essential, you can toss a few specks of some kind of  grated cheese between the layers. I did, although I didn't use much. I just had a brief flashback remembering eggplant parmesan and the veggies looked a bit naked.

Pour remaining lentil sauce. Cover entire casserole with bechamel sauce and smooth it out. I hate wrinkly sauce don't you? The photo was taken mid smooth.
Bake in middle oven rack, still 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes or so. I covered it loosely with foil to keep it hot. Cut into squares. Here's mine, right out of the oven.

Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days, I hope, because we're having them today after 3 days.

Oreos - A Covid Cookie Confession

Who knew that I'd ever write a blog about Oreos? Yes, the cookies.

Google tells me Oreos have been around since March 6, 1912.  I haven't been around quite that long, but I do remember them as a kid. In fact, I feel the need to finally confess that as a child, I may have single handedly contributed to the rodent population of Little Italy in Toronto. Let me explain.

My parents and I lived in a second story flat on Clinton Street when I was about seven or eight years old. By flat, I mean a small bedroom for three, a tiny kitchen, and a bathroom shared with two other families. Wow!

We were not very well off  since my parents had just moved to the city from a gold mining town wayyyy north of Superior. At first, they  took whatever jobs they could get. This improved somewhat when mom got a position at the Imperial Bank of Canada, and dad began as an audio technician at CBC.

From time to time they would purchase cookies...not really essential since mom often made magnificent European tortes. Cookies were somewhat different though. Mom only made the special varieties of German ones, pfeffernuss, almond crescents, linzer, and oblaten, at Christmas, hence the purchases.

I remember on one occasion we had a package of Oreos. I'm not sure why.  Perhaps they were on sale at Mr. Morris' Grocery store on the corner. There was nothing appealing looking about them. After all, they weren't Peak Freans shortbread, chocolate chip, or graham wafers (the other occasional purchases).  In fact, Oreos had a disgusting dark brown exterior, slightly bitter, that stuck tellingly between your teeth. The only redeeming feature was the lining...white "stuff" of some creamy consistency, probably pure sugar.

One day, when I was home alone after school, I searched for a snack. There wasn't much around except canned goods, the blender my parents had purchased to make skim milk from powder, and a packet of Oreos. After considering the depth of trouble I'd be in, I went for it, grabbed a handful and tried to eat one. My contorted mouth after tasting the cookie helped me decide on a new plan. I had to think fast. Where would I hide the evidence? I headed for the kitchen window which faced the back yard, opened it somewhat, and began an epic activity which has haunted me for some sixty years.

As I pulled apart each cookie, I savoured the edible sandwiched centres, lick by lick, considered the outer wafers, then tossed them from the second story, watching them spiral to the ground below.

Surprisingly, nothing ever became of my misdeed...not from my parents, and not from our landlords. Either the cookie shells disappeared by means of wildlife, or  they were so well disguised in the dirt that they became compost. To me they had certainly tasted like something akin to soil.

Why did I think to write this now? Well, I haven't checked Snopes, to see whether this is a real thing or not. I have decided that I don't want to know. Someone posted it on Facebook  thus bringing back memories of the great cookie caper.

Lots of No Time

You'd think that during pandemic isolation, there'd be lots of time to do things...like blogs. That's actually only partly true. I must admit that I am happy about a lot of things I've accomplished...special fun days which included dressing up and torturing my spouse; working on some hobbies (painting, reading, playing keyboard, writing); house cleaning...hiss boo, no excuse, and cooking...ugh. I'm becoming more efficient, and more inventive even though I dislike both of the latter tasks. Waste of time if you ask me. On the other hand, what else do I have to do?

As I previously mentioned, I have started no fewer, (yes the correct word, rarely used anymore is "fewer") than a dozen blogs and finished only two. At least I think I finished two. There's probably one that I stole from someone else, so perhaps three. As for writing, I've done a bit...messages/emails to friends. Perhaps I can incorporate these someplace. I certainly have a lot to say, and I definitely have plenty of opinions.

I think what happened is that my head is so full of "stuff", that I can't focus on the direction I want to go with any one of my blogs. Then, there are also occasional interruptions. I read somewhere that interruptions are the greatest suppressors to imagination and trains of thought. My train is easily derailed. I have the attention span of a gnat, and am fortunate to know this about myself.  I knew a writer once that wrote during the night, quiet, isolated. I suppose that's why some authors disappear into cabins in the woods. Or perhaps that's a myth and just how we perceive writers.

It's not just the blogs that are unfinished. I currently have a partially completed painting on my easel. It still needs some layers and shading. Not an original idea I might add. I saw it someplace on google and it appealed to me. The colours have been changed to protect the innocent or however the expression goes.

I have also been working on a small piece of unpainted furniture, trying to come up with some colour and design. I figured, if I don't wreck it, I can go on to bigger and better pieces.  Besides, I'm so immature that when my friends phone and ask what I'm doing, I can say, "I'm just painting my stool."

Then I cackle and laugh like some four year old repeating the words poopoo, peepee, and diarrhea, over and over, as they love to do.

Here's a picture of my stool before I started painting it. Ha,ha.                         

Well...that's about it for now. I'll try to recap some of my other adventures later. I have already shared them on Facebook, so I suppose that also contributes to my laziness in blogging about them.

Take care. Wash your hands. This too shall pass.

April 3, 2020

Someone posted this on facebook. I have no idea who wrote it but I decided to save it on here. It's something to remember.



There are now 10,000 Confirmed Cases in Canada on this day.
Gas prices are at a record low 65 cents
School cancelled since March 13th until May 1st...but kids aren’t likely going back until September
Self-distancing measures on the rise.
Tape on the floors at grocery stores and other stores to help distance shoppers 2metres from each other.
Limited number of people inside stores, therefore lineups outside the store doors.
Hand washing stations in the store entrances and plexi-glass barriers installed around the cashiers and check-out
Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.
Parks, trails, entire cities locked up.
Entire sports seasons cancelled.
Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.
Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.
No masses, churches are closed.
No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 5 or more.
Don't socialize with anyone outside of your home.
Children's outdoor play parks are closed.
We are to distance from each other.


In Canada:
Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.
Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.
Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no hand sanitizer.
Shelves are bare at times and most are being re-stocked nightly.
Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and PPE.
Government closes the border to all non-essential travel, calls Canadians home and makes it mandatory to self isolate for 14 days.
Stiff fines and jail time for price gouging on essential items.
Fines are established for breaking the rules.
Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.
Press conferences daily from Prime Minister Trudeau.
In Ontario: Premier Doug Ford gives daily updates on Ontario's new cases, recoveries of Covid 19 and any new bylaws/rules 
Government incentives to stay home.
Barely anyone in the street or on the roads.
People wearing masks and gloves outside.
Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.
Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.
1,000,000 applications for Employment Insurance as people go without.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11, 2020
One day this will show up in my memory feed, and it will be a yearly reminder that life is precious. To not take the things we dearly love for granted.

We have so much!
Be thankful. Be grateful.
Be kind to each other - love one another - support everyone.

We are all one! ❤️

Mom, Memories, and Hoarding

My mom grew up during the war which I am certain, was the reason for certain habits. At the time, I found some of these to be odd, but, she was my mother and clearly knew what she was doing. For example, I remember at one time asking why she had so many bed sheets.

She replied, "They're for when we can't get fabric anymore, in case we have to make clothes."

Although I was baffled, I didn't pursue it any further.

For the most part, we did not eat snacks and didn't ever waste food at mealtimes. I was of a generation where we were told that millions of children were starving all over the world.  Again, I was confused as to how finishing every last crumb of food would solve this issue.

There was one exception to my mom's leftovers, converted into different leftovers, which turned into yet another meal. When I was young, we didn't have the wide array of vegetables that's afforded us nowadays.  Sometimes there were canned peas and carrots...yuck. The peas were mushy and of a colour that can only be described as something found in a baby's diaper. Once in awhile, we had corn...again, canned. Fruit cocktail with the elusive half cherry was the fruit of choice and we rarely had dessert save for jello.  So generally, our fresh vegetable consisted of a salad alongside meat and potatoes. The dressing was always oil and vinegar, and unfinished lettuce meant soggy droopy, drippy leaves which actually ended up in the trash. I appreciated that, although I find myself wondering.

A salesman came to our two room, shared bathroom flat one day, and convinced my young parents that they needed a blender. He demonstrated the joys of powdered skim milk (again...yuck), and showed an array of veggies that could be tossed in together. He brought the food, and gave samples, which I'm certain was part of the appeal. The blender would pay for itself in savings alone. Perhaps that look in mom's eye was her thought that even the bedraggled remains of salad could be somehow re-purposed. I'm fairly confident that after a respectable period of time,  the blender salesman sent his friend the encyclopedia peddler (or maybe they were one in the same) to show mom and dad how we could all be as smart as the people in the U.S.A. with a set of  ***American Peoples Encyclopedia.

So my parents lived a fairly frugal and minimal lifestyle, mostly because of financial circumstances and of course, a lack of space. They stored nothing except for a few boxes of the dreaded powdered skim milk, which seemed in endless supply. For various reasons, some practical and some financial, I did the same throughout my life. My hubby on the other hand, enjoys shopping, and always stocks up on sale items. He fills our cupboards to the point where I've had to say, "What army are we feeding?"

I have often mentioned to him, that like Mr. Morris' grocery store on the corner of Clinton St. and Manning Avenue, which I frequented as a child, there's our current version...a Metro supermarket around the corner, if we needed anything desperately.

 Hubby's response, "You never know when we can't get out to shop."

I suppose he was thinking in terms of an apocalyptic snow storm, our elderly capabilities, or something similar. Never in either of our wildest dreams did we expect the current situation of a world wide pandemic...a virus which holds us captive in our elder years.

Although the hoarding of toilet paper amongst the populous still has me somewhat baffled, I understand things like frozen veggies, breads, dairy products and cleansers which are disappearing from shelves.

So firstly, it pains me to admit it, and say to hubby, "You were correct. Thank you."

Although in the past sixty plus years, there has never been an occasion where I would have seen a use for mom's bed sheets, there has now come a time where many stores are not open, restaurants are only offering takeout, and supplies are limited. Currently, our food stash is coming in handy in order to keep us from venturing out of the house unnecessarily. Store shelves are generally devoid of toilet paper, frozen food, cleansers, bread, and more. Meanwhile, our cupboards are set for awhile.

I suppose if I look in there carefully, I'd even find some canned corn, and  perhaps some fruit cocktail with half a cherry.


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*** It's odd the sorts of things that stick in our memory. The lack of apostrophe in Peoples bothered me from early on. Maybe they were referring to the different ethnic groups within America, which would actually make this correct. On the other hand, considering it was the 1950's I might dispute that. I guess I've always been a grammatical stickler.

     I remember having a disagreement with my fourth grade teacher regarding my usage of the words cups full  as in "I had two cups full of  disgusting powdered skim milk" which she insisted should be cupfuls. To this day, I'm wondering whether either one is acceptable. Don't get me wrong...I make my share of errors so don't go looking through my blogs, because you'll find them. I'll admit to that.

The Start of a New Decade

The decade has not started well for the world.

I have begun a dozen blogs in the last couple of weeks. Somehow, they all seemed trivial under the current circumstances. On the other hand, I'll probably finish them since any distraction or form of levity these days is not a bad thing. Everyone who is alive right now, 2020, knows of course that I'm speaking about the coronavirus and self isolation.

I had already decided that Time magazine won't have to search far for its "person of the year".  Groups of people and inanimate objects have been selected in the past. Since the "ebola fighters" were picked in 2014, wouldn't the coronavirus workers be the obvious choice for this year? There are so many dedicated and essential people on the job right now, and what greater news story is there likely to be this year than entire countries being shut down from this virus? And yet, there are those that work tirelessly to help others and try to maintain a sense of normalcy.

There's a beautiful video created by children that says it all.

 https://www.facebook.com/hometownharpist/videos/517487039192560/

What about the word of the year? I can't imagine anything much different than "social distancing".

I recently watched the movie "Contagion" on Netflix. As movies do, it moved quickly and skimmed the surface of what happens when there's a world wide spread of a disease. After all, there's only so much you can squeeze into two hours. I did however, find it interesting that much of the movie looked like current news reports. It demonstrated the rapid spread throughout communities, the front line workers trying to save lives, the endless deaths, scientists' attempts to create vaccines, fraudsters taking advantage of a desperate population, and ensuing chaos in society. I was surprised that some of the terminology coined in this movie, is what is is currently being used by us all.

So that's about all I have to say on the topic at this time. I have nothing much to add as we are bombarded with news reports and horror stories daily. My last comment is simply this...I am proud of the country in which we live, and how things are being handled. Our prime minister is doing a fine job with daily morning updates to reassure a frightened population in a calm, straightforward, and respectful manner.

Stay well, my friends. The rest of my blogs will contain updates on activities during my recent  weeks in captivity.