Comfort food ~ and Self-Isolating Questions

Write about comfort food.

When I ate lunch in the Circle@Crown Café last week, I bought an extra item.  Everyone's been raving about their homemade biscuits, so I got one to eat later at home.  What is it about certain foods that comforts us?  In my case, food reminds me of my mother.  She was a school cafeteria manager and loved to feed people.

The biscuit, of course, wasn't as good as my mother's biscuits.  Nothing ever is, since in our minds what we remember was so perfect.  This week, the Café is not open at all, and that day last week when I gathered with friends around a table to eat and talk and laugh feels like a distant memory.  This week, nothing is normal.  This week, the world feels strange, as I reported last night in "the reality around here."

Sorry, there's nothing "comforting" in this line of thought, so I'll answer the questions I posed earlier.  Let's see if I can be positive.

Quarantine Questions ~ now Self-Isolating Questions
On Thursday, I learned the latest terminology is "self-isolating," leaving "quarantined" to those who have been been officially quarantined.

1.  What am I grateful for today?

I'm grateful for friends at the retirement center where I live, and that includes staff as well as residents.  The staff is going above and beyond to make us safe and take care of us during this pandemic, and that includes getting meals delivered to our doors so we don't have to leave our apartments unnecessarily.

2.  Who am I checking in on or connecting with today?

When my BFF Donna ordered groceries, she added a few things I needed.  So I went to her apartment to pick up food for Clawdia and me.  Along the way, I spoke to Margaret, Iva, Karl, and Miriam in the hallways.  I talked on the phone with the Donna who is on staff, BFF Donna (several times), Sheila, Nancy, and Judy.  I replied to Donna Rae Jones, our yoga instructor (yes, a third Donna today), by comments on this blog and by email, as she attempts to set up a virtual yoga group, since "Gentle Chair Yoga" has been suspended for now.  While Judy and I were talking by phone in our own apartments, we waved to each other from building to building across the entrance and patio below.

3.  What expectations of "normal" am I letting go of today?

I'm letting go of the expectation that we need to face each other to talk and share.  As you can see, I talked to a lot of people today, mostly by phone.  Hearing each other's voices can bring us together without having to see each other in person.

4.  How am I getting outside today?

How about bringing "outside" in?  I opened the window for Clawdia so she could smell the fresh air, listen to sounds, and scan for any birds in the trees below our window.  It took three tries to get this photo of her, since she kept turning around to see what I was doing with that cell phone camera pointed her way.

5.  How am I moving my body today?

Other than walking from my apartment to Donna's in the other building, I haven't done much moving today.  Maybe I could do this SilverSneakers virtual exercise class on Facebook.  "Join SilverSneakers Trainer Jenny O’Callaghan for our first live-streamed SilverSneakers exercise class here on Facebook!"  Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 10:30 – 11:00 Central Time.  That's tomorrow!

6.  What beauty am I either creating, cultivating, or inviting in today?

I shared coloring pages on my bulletin board that people can take home, color, and re-post them on the board to share with any of us going by the elevators on my floor.  Several people have already taken pages and returned them on our board.  I need to put up more pages, since they are almost all colored now.  If you want to color one and don't live here, send me a photo of it, and I'll add it to our bulletin board.