magenta

The worst thing we can do in the face of despair, of horror, and helplessness and hopelessness, is to do nothing, turn away, become convinced that there is nothing we can do, so why bother. In some cases, what we do matters little, we are too few, too far away. But we can care, be a witness to the fact that someone sees what has happened. If no one witnesses, the horror can continue. Help when you can, who you can, all you can. Give time, give money, give energy. But when you are burned out, when you can do no more, continue to believe. We can make a difference, if nowhere else, in the realm of thought.

I am going through old writings, at the suggestion of a friend. What troubles me about this piece is the date: Friday, September 13, 2002

I don't think it's just my chronic anxiety. These horrors have been going on a long time, not always the same, and somehow, we keep forgetting.

A few days ago. someone posted a “ditch list" on Twitter,  things they hope won't come back after the pandemic. It took me a while to go through the thread and write this. The list and all the subsequent tweets ranged from “of course” to offensive. I answered back a few, and reported one: "Obesity. Sorry, fats” as being abusive and discriminatory. I also answered rather pointedly to “Cancel public pools, movie theaters, and public gyms (just lift weights at home and run outside, it’s not that hard)” as being ableist and ageist. I cannot run, some days I can barely walk, because of arthritis. I am used to doing water aerobics and swimming 2 or 3 days a week. I am losing muscle mass and strength because I can only do so much at home. A number of others were also ableist. Many others were racist, mostly anti-Chinese. “Subways caused the spread of CV19z” – was from someone in Athens, GA, where I guess there is no overcrowding. You could just as easily say New York City caused it. Someone just had “Marriage”, which makes me think he is an incel, or has problems that have nothing to do with the virus.

The list started with “handshakes and hugs.” Handshakes I can do without. Hugs??? If what is meant is hugging when introduced, or being expected to hug someone you don't know, I agree. But one of the things I miss the most right now is being with friends and being able to hug them. The second item was “buffets”; if what is meant is at restaurants, I think that was already on the way out for public health reasons concerning food borne pathogens. I'm ok with that, but as a method of entertaining, no, I want that to continue, along with potlucks, which a number of people want to get rid of. From brief descriptions, I think they must have bad experiences with ones at work, that are semi-mandatory and sometimes disgusting. I live in Minnesota, and we know how to do them right. Especially small ones, that's how my friends and I get together – and we know basic food safety principles. Cruise ships were already on the way out; there have been multiple disease incidents. This may be the end of that kind of travel for many years.

On the other hand, healthcare tied to employment should be gone. We’ve proven how much can be done by working from home. Can’t go back now. I agree. Going to work sick or forcing kids to go to school sick is forever canceled, yes. In-person voting, changing that was already on the horizon, and the way we vote needs to change. Here in Minnesota we have no-excuse absentee voting; I've also heard adding more and easier early voting, rather than all trying to do it on one day. We've been doing that as well.

Some were confusing: Ditch list: “climate change, electoral college, Trump, non-electric vehicles, the words "up to" in online sales, food waste, clay litter, grass yards, 5 day work weeks.” Do they mean we should stop working on climate change, or that staying home will help? I'd love to see an end to human caused climate change but it will not happen overnight. Why clay litter? Grass yards are a poor use of land, but they are so far down on the list and have nothing to do with the pandemic. Just in time supply chains – yes, but how?

“Cancel police arresting people for nonviolent crimes! The manpower, resources, processing, bail money, court, public defender or attorney, missing time from work is all bullshit. Just charge them with a big ass fine up front.”. Except a “big ass fine” will ruin some people as much as jail, and be no more than a petty annoyance to others. We do need to drastically reform the police and justice system, but again, that will take time and thought.

“Physical stores. Online and delivery only with a preference for elderly and disabled to be able to phone in orders and be served first.” Goodness no! One answer was “Some people like trying on their clothes before they buy them”. (what they said!) Someone said no one is going to be buying clothes – what about those of us who were going to get something they needed, only everything closed down suddenly. I like choosing my own tomatoes, seeing an item that I didn't realize was on sale and getting it, noticing, as I did recently, that Vidalia onions have started coming into stores. I am doing more on-line ordering – when we need more of the same breakfast cereal we always get. sure, order online. Also, someone said stop going to big box stores and shop locally – well, those places don't necessarily have online ordering, and they aren't open right now. I'll go back to them as soon as I can. I like to browse books, and never order from Amazon, not with all the physical bookstores in town.

“Parades, what a waste of time and money, they do nothing but produce trash”. I feel really sorry for this person, but perhaps I am lucky – the parades in Minneapolis tend to be a) fun and b) clean.

One cynic said “Sorry to say, unless there is an effective vaccine thats free and mandatory: sports, fairs, animal shows, concerts, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, christening, graduations, funerals. For at least four years after vaccine is available. Things will Never Get Back To "Normal" Four years after there is a vaccine?? And those items are in many different categories. Weddings can be small, for example. I don't care about sports, and I would like the commercial aspects removed, but I know lots of people who enjoy them. This person sounds like they don't want anyone having fun ever again.

T***p, P***e, etc, and Republicans, were on many lists. Mine too. I'm seriously afraid democracy - and a lot of us - will not be able to survive to replace them in November, and see new people in office, in January.

“Bring back common sense”. That's one thing I can get behind without reservation.

We no longer need to grow and harvest all our food to survive the long winter, hoping we don't have to eat our seed corn. Few of us even cook all our meals from scratch. We grab something on the way home from work or school, or toss something in the microwave. We eat far more meals out than we did a generation ago, so we don't keep as much food on hand. We take the availability of food for granted. But we still might have to get through blizzards, hurricanes, floods, and other disasters, not to mention epidemics and pandemics. Now we are faced with a public health crisis and there is no way to predict what will happen. And most of us are not well prepared for any of these situations.

I've kept at least two weeks supply of food on hand since the winter after I moved to Minnesota. If my boyfriend and I hadn't just been to the grocery store, and hadn't gotten 14 boxes of mac and cheese, because it was 7 for a dollar (tells you how long ago that was) I don't know what we would have done when the “Superbowl blizzard” struck, just as we both came down with the flu. Ever since, I've made a point of keeping at least 2 weeks supply of food on hand, preferably more than that. This will keeps us supplied through bad weather, an emergency car repair that uses all the available money, or a short term epidemic.

My planning has been geared to my area, so people in other regions need to consider their potential hazards. If flooding is a danger where you live, and possible evacuation is the solution, your preparation needs to be different. But anywhere you live, you need to plan for the possibility of you or a family member, or both, getting sick, or enough other people getting sick that you don't want to go out, or widespread enough illness to interrupt the food supply chain.

Pre-packaged “survival food” is very overpriced, and may not have food you like, and it wasn't really a thing when I started my larder. Now we have widespread grocery delivery, but there are minimums and it costs extra – tip the driver if you use it, since they did the work. But these could get overloaded if many people can't get to the store, and some foods could become scarce or unavailable.

What I did was, over time, was when canned soup I really like went on sale, I bought an extra can or two. When macaroni went on sale, I got extra. I developed a list of items I used regularly that would keep without refrigeration. Think of things that are meals in themselves as much as possible, that won't need additional ingredients like milk, eggs, butter, meat. At least some should not require cooking – my personal favorite is canned smoked oysters but those are an acquired taste. Buy items you like and will use, because the other part of this is date stamping what you buy and using it in rotation. Don't buy soup and let it sit for years; instead, use it the next time you want soup, then replenish your supply. If any of the canned goods don't have a pull tab lid, check that you have a working can opener. Stock ginger ale and other soda, and canned or bottled juice for re-hydrating, even if you don't usually drink them. Foods you don't usually eat can be “rotated” by donating them to a food shelf or bringing them to a party; which means you always have something to take to a potluck.

Be sure to have non-food items like TP, soap, menstrual supplies(if relevant), pet food (ditto), and all medication, including over the counter items. Even if you don't normally use paper plates and cups, these can be very useful if you are too sick to wash dishes. Gradually accumulate what you need for two weeks of meals and snacks, for both situations of debilitating illness and inability to get supplies.

Preset lists, such as the one at https://www.ready.gov/food can be a starting point, but need to be modified to take into account your tastes, allergies, medical conditions, and budget

My emergency shelf contains, among other things, canned soup, canned baked beans, tuna, smoked oysters, crackers, peanut butter, dark chocolate, tea, oatmeal, pasta, canned or jarred pasta sauce, rice, cooking oil, summer sausage that can be kept without refrigeration, instant mashed potatoes, nuts, granola or other food bars, as well as extra TP and paper towels. Other people might want jelly or jam, instant coffee, sugar in a sealed container, ramen, canned fruit, dried fruit, dried milk, and honey. There are shelf stable meals in most supermarkets, but they are expensive for the amount of food. These are a few ideas to start thinking about emergency supplies, not meant to be an perfect list for everyone. And yes, I have boxed mac and cheese, even though I don't eat it very often.

What we did on our winter vacation.

The Superbowl was coming to Minneapolis, as was the usual frigid weather. Time to get out of town to someplace warmer. We'd never been to New Orleans, so we went.

The bus to the light rail was so late we took another bus, and managed to get to the airport in plenty of time to get through security. The plane was on time, but had trouble finding the bus into town. We got to the transfer point in town, and had to wait over half an hour for a bus to near the hotel, then had to walk several blocks from the bus. In general, transit websites were not very helpful. We were able to check in when we arrived, but we had a single room, not a suite, despite the name of the place and the info on the website. A “studio suite” is a contradiction in terms: it was just a single room with a kitchenette. The room was ok, not as quiet as I hoped because the hotel allows dogs – something to check in the future – and there were a couple in a room just down the hall. We went down the street to Barcardia, an “arcade bar”, for our first dinner; it had lots of arcade games but we were too tired to play. Apparently, “arcade bar” is a new thing, and we're going to look for them here. I had excellent crayfish bisque, Martin had a large salad, and we split sweet potato fries.

The first morning, Thursday, we walked to the French Quarter. If you have never been to New Orleans, the French Quarter is made up of narrow streets, with small old buildings which house interesting shops, excellent restaurants, and many bars. There many small hotels, and I think there are private residences as well. It seemed to me that Bourbon Street was mostly bars. The liquor laws are quite different from Minnesota – we heard people order their last round of drinks “to go”. People walking down the street drinking were common. The first day, I bought beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde, but I wasn't very impressed. I wanted to try them, but they turned out to be plain deep fried squares of dough with lots of powdered sugar. They were rather bland, with no flavor other than “sweet”. We sat in Lafayette Park while I ate them, and listened to excellent music. Then we went into St. Louis Cathedral nearby, which was as beautiful as many we saw in Italy. We kept wandering through the French Quarter until I was exhausted, then we went back to the room to rest. When we got hungry, we went down the street to Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar for lunch. Martin had nachos he thought excellent, I had pork sliders, which were good. After that, we went to the Riverwalk – an indoor mall right on the Mississippi. The first store we found was Lindt; we ate samples that we were offered, and bought chocolate at high prices because we got single pieces to try different flavors. We found an observation platform and looked at the river, far downstream from home. We went to to Mother's Restaurant for dinner, which was near our hotel. It was really excellent. Hole in the wall with authentic creole food, Black run, and probably owned. I had a wonderful seafood gumbo with lots of shrimp, some crayfish, flavor was just right. Martin had the filé gumbo, which had chicken and sausage rather than seafood, and he really liked it. We also had a green beans and tomatoes side dish, which I plan to try to cook. I think Mother's had the best creole food of anyplace we went.

The next day we went to the Audubon Aquarium. We watched an excellent 3D movie, called, “Wild Ocean” about fish and fishing off the coast of South Africa. In the exhibits, we saw a large sea turtle in a huge tank that also had sharks and many other creatures. There was also an exhibit of sting rays, another of moon jellyfish, as well as many other specimens. We took a shortcut back to the hotel through Harrah's Casino, which was very bright and noisy. Later, we went to the French Quarter again. We happened on a parade, which was fun, and it was a manageable size for us. I believe it was Krewe of Corks. I acquired 2 strands of beads and an artificial fushia rose, and Martin got one strand of beads (we were to acquire more in the course of the trip). Had gelato, chocolate and zuppa, at Antoine's Annex, the best we had had since Italy, almost the best since Florence. After wandering for a while longer, we had dinner at Country Flame, some sort of Latin fusion, with Cuban influence. I had a fajita salad, which I want to try to make myself, Martin had tacos. After dinner, we went back to the room for the evening. A bit later, we heard a lot of noise outside. Turns out one of the parade routes ended on the corner our hotel was on. We went downstairs briefly, but it was too cold to stay outside very long – in the lower 50's, damp and windy. (I guess we could have gotten out our winter coats, but that would have been overkill.) Since we had a corner window, we had a good view; just as well it was as far up as it was. Watched off and on from the window until it ended, about 10 or 10:30.

The third day was similar, wandering in the French Quarter. We ate lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, 9 Roses, on Conti Street. Good food, and different from what we had been eating. Just about every restaurant in New Orleans seems to be good. Wandered a while longer. Got take-out from Mother's for dinner, and I finally had a oyster po' boy, a whole sandwich filled with lots of excellent oysters, almost too much for me to eat, but I managed. Martin had a very good jambalaya. There were parades again, so it was noisy again, but they didn't late as late as the night before. In between watching the parades, we watched “The Martian” on TV, because that movie is very re-watchable, and was the best thing on that night.

Sunday we wanted to go to the City Park. Because of the parades, we couldn't get on the streetcar near our hotel, and had to walk about a dozen blocks, which it turned out to be farther than it looked on the map. We caught the streetcar and rode to the end of the line, to the New Orleans Museum of Art. It is housed in an old Neo-Classical building, and is small, maybe 20 rooms. Some of it was excellent, but some, as the saying goes, was, “Second rate works by first rate artists and first rate works by second rate artists”, or in the case of some, artists unknown outside the South. We had a pleasant lunch there, salad for Martin, portobello mushroom sliders for me. Then Martin walked around the sculpture garden while I sat and enjoyed the lovely weather - sunny, blue sky, in the 60's, weather we won't get here in Minnesota for a couple of months. I thought at the time, “this is what I came here for, warm weather”. On the way back, since we couldn't take the streetcar all the way, went into the French Quarter to a shop Martin wanted to return to, so he could buy black tourmaline pieces that caught his eye earlier. I was very tired by the time we got back. Went to Barcardia again for dinner, but I just couldn't stay because of the noise and people, (the Superbowl was starting) so we got take-out; Martin stayed and brought it back to the hotel for me.

Monday was our last full day. Mostly went to the French Quarter and walked around for a bit more, and bought pralines to take home. Had lunch at a place on Royal Street across from Antoine's, Cafe Soule; Martin had excellent gumbo, I had ok onion soup – under the broiler too long. Dinner was the hotel buffet, red beans and rice, plus a decent salad bar (they only did it a couple nights a week). I wish I had gone to Mother's again as I had planned.

On Tuesday, we had to check out by 11, but didn't need to get to the airport until 2. It was raining at first but stopped long enough for us to catch the streetcar around 11, transfer to another one, and get to the public library, near where we would catch the airport bus. We were going to go into the library and look around, and catch the bus later, but the library was closed because of plumbing problems. We should have been able to catch the bus out right away, but it never came, and we had to wait over half an hour for the next one. It rained again on the way out, but had stopped by the time we got there. We went through security, and out to our gate: we found a place to buy something for lunch - “Copeland's Scoop” - and also bought a sandwich for me for to eat on the plane. The flight was on time, and it was easy flight; we caught good train and bus connections, and were home before 8 pm.

We definitely avoided the Superbowl, the weather was warmer than Minneapolis, but the transportation sucked. We may go again, being careful not to go anytime near Mardi Gras, its not really our thing. All in all, glad we went.