State of Emergency

Boston College history professor, Heather Cox Richardson, inspired me to write this blog.  Her highly regarded, and widely read summary of the day has been appearing on my facebook feed for some time. I commented on her last post that she inspired me to write a daily blog from the perspective of an ordinary non-historian, and she generously invited me to post a link on her Facebook thread. Here is the link to her Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/
You really should follow her. Her insights are very compelling. As a result, I have some new readers who don’t know me, and I feel a bit more pressure to make this really entertaining. Also, I should introduce myself.

I’m the mother of three grown children, married to the same guy for 30 years, and a licensed midwife with a home birth practice. I’m a professional cat lady and an avid amateur gardener as well. We live in rural Idaho with only four cats. You will see their pictures here. Neal is the one who is obsessed with the bathtub. This makes me sound much more domestic than I am. I also enjoy cooking, reading, the outdoors and cursing like a pirate. I’m also a breast cancer metavivor. That means that I have stage IV breast cancer, the stage at which it becomes incurable. It moved very quickly from my breast to my bones in just a few weeks after my diagnosis. I went through months of chemotherapy and radiation, and I am currently stable, with no evidence of active disease at this time. However, my status could change at any time, so I have regular scans and ongoing oncology care. I also have hypertension and I am 55. Hence, the novel coronavirus pandemic makes me feel extremely vulnerable. I worked very hard to stay alive two years ago, literally had three life-threatening conditions in a few months of each other, and fuck it if I’m going to let this virus and the orange sphincter-mouth in the Oval Office kill me.

So I’m staying home except for providing prenatal care to my current clients. I have no imminent due dates at this time, so my practice is easy for the moment. Before my prenatal yesterday, I sat in my car as the latest news conference began. As I often do, I turned it off quickly because I feel assaulted every time I hear the president’s voice. Later I heard what he said: “I take no responsibility.” As Professor Richardson has pointed out, we are now relying on the good sense and benign intent of other authorities to keep us safe. I’m so grateful for our sensible governors, the heads of sports leagues, and those running conferences and concerts. We have simply moved past the President. Through his narcissism, lack of comprehension and inability to take effective action at the right time, he has become irrelevant in this fight. Except when he uses the power that he has to sow chaos. He’s really good at that. For example, implementing a unilateral European travel ban that sends travelers into a panic.

I have decided to avoid the gym and the yoga studio for a while. Both places feel dangerous to me. Lack of exercise is not good for my long term physical health and I’m going to be mixing a cocktail every night, so I have decided to start running. I ran about a mile yesterday. It was really a run/walk combination. Or more like a walk with some running added in. But it’s a start.

Everyone wants a Quarantini recipe. So here you go.

I make a lavender tincture from the lavender in my garden. Don’t worry if you don’t have it. You can use something else that smells like hand sanitizer, or just skip it. Please do not use essential oils. They are not meant to be taken internally. You could use any floral water you have on hand.

3 ounces of the strongest gin you can find. Kirkland brand is 88 proof. Bombay is 94 proof. 120 proof, if you can find it, kills coronavirus. But be careful. It’s really strong.

20 drops of lavender tincture or other edible floral scented product like rosewater or orange blossom water

1/2 ounce St. Germaine (elderflower liqueur)

Shake or stir (no, this is not a Bond movie, and I’m not a martini snob), and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a sprig of lavender, if you have it.

Drink on the couch in your pajamas in the middle of the day while binge-watching Good Girls. Serve on a cocktail napkin made of folded toilet paper, but don’t throw the paper
out when you’re finished. Fold it carefully and return it to the bathroom for future use.