Finding Joy in Quarantine
My sister and I, enjoying the summer weather pre-pandemic.
It is a Friday morning like any other, the sun is shining through the dining room window and our cats, Inspector and Horatio are basking in its warmth on the floor. Our dog, Charlie, is full of energy and ready to burst out the door. We prepare to take him on a hike.
It could be easy to live this life and forget what is happening in the world right now. In this moment I could forget that there is a pandemic altering the world as we know it, but for the lack of family and friends around the dinner table. The absence of gatherings marked with casseroles, salads, wine, laughter and the joy of spending time with loved ones; leaves a hole in our lives that cannot be filled.
Like so many people, I have spent more time reaching out to friends and family over the phone. I find myself talking to my youngest sister almost every day. It is not unusual for us to call one another a couple times in one day. Sometimes we call with important updates but sometimes we just want company while we both perform menial tasks, often not saying anything to fill the space and just being together, while apart.
The other day I made brownies, something I had been craving all week, the smell of chocolate filled the room. The night before we had roasted a pork shoulder for 11 hours. We made a rub with cumin, garlic, cinnamon, allspice, oregano, achiote and orange juice. The smell in our home was intoxicating. It’s the kind of smell you want to share with people. The kind of smell you want your neighbors to catch while walking by your house and think “I want what they are having!”. Because really, smells like that are made to be shared.
I was swooning over the smell of roasting cinnamon, sweet oranges, melting chocolate and the crisp outer layer of pork fat covered in cumin, when my sister called via FaceTime.
Her boyfriend is making pot roast. He’s added potatoes and chunks of carrot and onion to the pan and for her, this is a welcome reminder of childhood. We talk about projects we are both working on and compare how cute our dogs are. We spend time trying to get our dogs to look at each other, they have no interest, we keep trying.
The moment when Abby looks up and says “Oh, my gosh! Your house smells so good!” is somewhat alarming. I am at once filled with a sense of pride and happiness that I have not felt in a long time. the pride that comes from sharing the smell of your dinner with someone you love. Working in the kitchen to give nourishment to friends and family, the blessing of a well-cooked meal, shared with others. And then we laugh. She cannot smell my home, of course she can’t, she is in another state. But for a moment we were able to share something vital; we were both basking in the smell of a home cooked meal together, thousands of miles apart. And for a moment I was able to forget again, that this is the new normal.
I am writing to tell you to cook with a friend. We are all spending more time cooking and often trying out new recipes, why not make it an event? Plan on making brownies with a friend over face time. Do you both have the ingredients to make lasagna? Why not pop the lasagna in the oven before the call and then chat over a glass of wine while it cooks? Whatever you decide, please, don't forget to tell your friend, mother, sister or neighbor how good their home smells!