“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 969 (Friday) – barely maintaining

There were many ideas for things to do on the holiday.  Tackle organizing the spare room? Read a book? Finally attempt a recipe from the Finnish Cookbook bought one or two years ago? Make a puzzle? Draft a stained glass design pattern? Nope, nope, nope, nope, and nope. True to brand, these all remained nebulous ideas and not solid actions. The cookbook was consulted and the ingredients inventoried, but then it just felt like it would be work. 

The day wasn’t a complete blank slate. Basic (bare minimum) life maintenance tasks were handled. The bare minimum, like dressing and eating, and there are days those feel like gargantuan accomplishments. Today they were just routine tasks. There was coffee and a late breakfast of matzo brie, which is matzo crackers busted and fried in butter then scrambled with eggs. 

Korean Scallion Pancakes!
Thank you Trader Joe's!

Supper was Trader Joe’s Korean Scallion Pancakes. Similar pancakes were a favorite side dish with X2 at MoMo Korean Restaurant in Clarksville. The frozen ones from TJ’s are pretty good. One was fried in oil and eaten and it was so good, a second one was prepared. Unfortunately, now the house reeks of cooking oil and every time I let Winston out and come back inside, I gag a little. 

The heavy, stinky indoor air reminds me of visits to X1’s family in Co-op City in the Bronx and Rego Park in Queens. In both cases, the kinfolk lived in large apartment buildings where the air permanently hung heavy with the stench of cooking oil mingled with any variety of pungent aromas including cabbage and Lord knew what else. Tonight, that is also my house. Blech.

Other major accomplishments included hand washing the soup pan and a few dishes in the sink; Wordle in 5 moves (nothing to brag about); some Finnish translations done for homework; and streaming the Finnish crime drama Bordertown (end of Season 1 and into Season 2) all day, except for 20 minutes spent outside collecting dog and bunny nuggets from the front yard and the few minutes frying scallion pancakes. A very full day indeed. 

By 6:00 it felt like midnight. It wasn't a bad thing. I relished the thought there was still several hours before bedtime, and also the knowledge that my slug like activities probably wouldn't be tolerated by a spouse or significant other. There is a lot to be said for living alone. After so many years of it, it's highly unlikely I could ever again share space with another human.