Day 42 – Six weeks. Did we ever really think shelter-in-place would go on this long? Some days I think this will go on forever. I know that eventually things will change but to what? They will not go back exactly as they have. They cannot. The world has changed. We have changed. Things we thought were impossible before were shown to be possible.

I worry sometimes about an economic depression. I never thought that would even be a possibility in my lifetime. We have been saving as much money as possible through this and with our savings hope to weather this well. But, it is scary. My mother-in-law lived through the 1929 Stock Market Crash, she was 12,  and used to tell the stories about her father losing his business and her having to go live with cousins. She survived but it would color the rest of her life. She would save little bits of food which in turn my wife would do when we first met. Tablespoons of meals would be in our refrigerator until they turned green and fuzzy. We were able to talk that through and stop that and know it was okay to not save every tablespoon of food because you might never have enough.

My mother-in-law’s cooking was through a depression eye with a large family. A can of tuna fish could feed a family with enough mayonnaise and olives. Spaghetti sauce was thin and bacon strips were cut in half (2 per person every Sunday morning). It wasn’t until college that my wife even realized that bacon strips were not that small.

Reading the American Girl Doll books with my daughter about rations during the war. Cooking from your garden or sharing what you had with others in trade. Too many tomatoes? Trade for butter or potatoes. Canning. Drying. Using all you had. Will we return to that time?  Will our waste decrease?

I see the meat plants and food manufacturers being closed due to outbreaks of the virus. As this happens will shortages in the food supply grow? As it is now it is hard to find some items – all the chicken except for frozen chicken wings and chicken patties were gone at our grocery store. Will our way of cooking and eating change because of this. Less processed foods? Right now there are not a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in our area. We are just coming out of winter and we have about a month until most people start planting outdoors. We have had snow twice this month so not really conducive to starting your own gardens yet.

Now we are back to trying to use every little bit of things. Before you would throw socks with holes away. Now, we are trying to sew them or use them for something else. Have a brown banana? Freeze and make bread. We are redecorating our house by moving furniture, lamps, and things from room to room to refresh the look of our home. Sometimes just moving an object gives it new life in a new spot. A clock was moved from a table to the top of the cabinet and a lamp from the office was brought in from the office to our living room. We didn’t have to buy anything and our living room already is starting to look different.

Yes, this is where my mind goes at night as I am trying to fall asleep. No wonder I am having trouble sleeping trying to think of all the possibilities. What are you thinking about all of this?