Pandemic Times Ponderings (Vol. I, Issue 4)

Published: Mon, 05/11/20

Dear Readers,

On the one hand it pains me that this is the fourth edition of my Pandemic Times because it means this craziness has been going on for more than eight weeks! On the other hand, I have come to relish this little ritual of writing to you more frequently. Goes to show that, for me at least, a good thing came out of this calamity.

Other good things have happened as well, and I try to focus on those rather than fret about the future. None of us predicted this pandemic and the utter standstill of our countries, and that, to me, is the greatest proof right now that worrying about the future is futile. We humans can only try to be well prepared but for what we shall never know.

The woodpecker's drill has become quite a familiar sound for us.

So here are some of my good things:

actually living at our country place for two months already. While it took some time to outfit this place to accommodate five people working and living here, it has been such a blessing to be out of the city. It has truly become the home away from home it wouldn't have otherwise.
finally getting into a serious walking routine because that's about the only exercise we can engage in. We thankfully have ample space for long walks and we are getting to know the woods very well. It has been such a joy to watch spring happen up close. Today, for example, my husband and I surveyed which of the trees we planted last year are still alive and budding. That was a nice grounding task!
celebrating Mother's Day with all three of my kids! That hasn't happened since 2014, when our oldest graduated high school! I know for some of you celebrating with your family wasn't possible but I hope you were able to connect and honor the day in some meaningful way.
living with my adult kids. Mind you, life with three adult children has its challenges. My husband and I do miss our empty nest life now and then, but he also keeps saying that never again might we spend that much time living with them. But who knows? We don't know the future, do we?
appointment-free days. I have always loved wide open days but they used to be hard to come by. One per week was a luxury. Now it's the other way around: An appointment is a rare thing. I do miss my social life, though, especially meeting a friend for lunch or coffee! The latest is that restaurants in Illinois won't open until late June...

I have always loved Naomi Bulger's work and her steadfast championing

of mail art, because I do love sending mail even if I rarely write a letter.

Finally I managed to sit down and color in one of her gorgeous envelope templates.

What fun! Just the right kind of Zen activity to help soothe my anxiety.

I loved coloring as a kid and anything one loved to do as

a kid seems to be a good activity these days. When you subscribe

to her newsletter you get a new template in each issue.

time for frivolous leisurely pursuits like mail art (see above)
baking and cooking has turned into less of a chore and more of a mindful (and obviously useful) activity. I do miss my cookbook collection back in Chicago but I was able to find the following family favorite online. My daughter and I have made it almost every week as banana bread is the best way make use of brown bananas:

Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread

2 cups flour

3/4 tsp. backing soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)

2 eggs

1/3 cup plain yogurt (vanilla also works)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Place sugar and butter in a bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Add banana, eggs and yogurt, and beat until blended.

Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until moist.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (or in a hot water bath) and let cool a bit.

Then take 1 cup of the banana batter and mix it with the chocolate until well combined.

Pour banana batter into a greased loaf pan and spread the chocolate batter over it. Then swirl a knife through the batter in one spiraling motion.

Bake at 350F for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick emerges clean.

Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

The banana bread tastes best the day after it was baked, and it needs to be stored wrapped in aluminum foil. I love a slice spread with a thick layer of butter...

Adapted from an old Cooking Light recipe

Some days it's been warm enough for me to lie down in the grass

at the end of one of our walks and look up into the sky, usually a favorite

summer activity of mine. Contemplating the infinite blue reminds me

how small we are and how big this universe is. Once, a plane passed by, high up,

and I found the sight of it pulling its contrail across the sky so soothing.

Someone was actually flying somewhere up there!

In going with focusing on the good, I came across this quote from Epicurus the other day and found it so appropriate:

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Epicurus, Greek philosopher (341 - 270 BC)

I do hope you can count some of your good things as well. Do feel free to share them with me, writing them down is a good practice. I find it so fascinating how we are dealing with this challenge of the pandemic.

I will be teaching another rendition of my Shaping Family History into Compelling Stories workshop online this coming Wednesday, see below. It would be lovely to welcome you there. I taught it via Zoom for the first time last week and found that it actually worked quite well.

May 13, 2020, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. CDT (hosted by StoryStudio Chicago)

If you have been reading a lot, my newest blog post has recommendations for some positive reads as I have found it hard to read heavy stuff:

Three Uplifting but True-to-Life Books for You to Read during these Trying Pandemic Times

Last but not least, I have a favor to ask: If you have read either one of my books, Jumping Over Shadows or How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History, could you please post a review to Amazon if you haven't already? Those reviews do help to sell books and Amazon has become the No. 1 channel, especially these days. Recent reviews keep books relevant.

Thanks so much in advance for your help with this and for reading my work and special thanks to all who write back. I do try to reply to each message!

Be well,

www.annettegendler.com