More Covid Diary Thoughts

Morning shots from yesterday, the 13th. I went out to look for Comet Neowise. I did see it!

I was not successful at photographing it, but I did enjoy a long predawn quiet of watching the sky and the fog change with the light.

Up at 4am because...well, because I had to blanch a LOT of green beans and get them ready for the dehydrator. 

I'm in that mode now. The saving produce mode. Pick carrots and green beans as soon as there is enough light. Wash them and trim them on the porch before noon and then set them in the fridge for the next morning.

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I ran out of freezer bags on Friday and thought since I had to run to the post office to pick up our new mattress I'd ordered, I'd run into WallyWorld and grab some freezer bags.

Imagine my surprise that the shelves were barren. Not only were there no bags of any sort, there were no 'Seal A Meal' items either.

Then of course there were the tourists, or the weekenders. More than one mom with Little Vectors and no masks walking about the store. 

I stopped in my tracks. What has this Covid-19 done to me? I stared at the kids as if I could make them go away and with carefree mask-less attitudes. Was I right? Was I wrong? Was I an idiot? Was I paranoid? Why did I see her and her own kids as dangerous.

6 months ago, I wouldn't have had a second thought.

I grabbed two other items I was looking for and vowed never to return to any store on a Saturday morning.

Ok. 

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Pick the veggies.

Wash the veggies.

Cut them up....

Dehydrate them! 

The cukes went into a refrigerator sweet pickle salad of onions and cukes.

To tell you the truth, I sort of have a love/hate relationship with doing vegetables. I know I will enjoy them in the winter. I sort of resent having to take up a good part of my day caring for them.

I'd much rather plant flowers and mess around with them.

But as my husband likes to point out.

You can't eat pretty flowers.

But, you can put pretty flowers with your unusual dried veggies and do a Still Life photo of them, right?

Just for information. 

That pint jar [vacuum sealed] of green beans hold about 22 servings of green beans for 2 people. I generally mix my dried veggies up in a jar like the carrots and green beans and open them when it is soup making time in the winter.

I toss a handful of dried veggies in the crockpot along with the broth and in about 6 hours, I have some incredible tasting soup.

I am careful to plan ahead and use up the dehydrated veggies during the winter months. Apparently they don't last forever in this state.

Another thought to consider is the storage. I can store more vegetables in a dehydrated state than I can in a freezer.

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Last Covid thoughts for today.

My Grandmother lived through the 1918 Pandemic and WWI. After that she had to deal with Prohibition. The Depression. WWII and raising a family with rations.

I get it now.

I get why Grandpa and she never let one tiny thing go to waste. Why Grandpa would bring home items from the dump. Why he kept every tin can and used it for things like seed starters or earth worm containers when we went fishing.

Why they even kept balls of twine or string. Or...even old bed coils. How they picked up old windows and built a green house...why not even a ratty old shirt got tossed...it could be used for a wash cloth, or...woven into a rag rug.

My grandparents were the original 'up-cycle' folks.

Life has changed.

I used to run to the store just on a whim. I was used to finding what I wanted when I wanted it.

My whole thought on humanity has changed.

...and it

is very 

un--nerving.

What has happened to us?