Ritual

Low-key Fancy

Being a responsible human during the 2020 Covid-19 global pandemic means one thing for most of us: staying at home.  As stressful as doing our academic jobs from home can be, we know that we are extremely fortunate in several respects. First, we have meaningful work that can be done from home. It is more stressful than it ought to be, but it keeps us busy (we're not finding time for boredom at all) and keeps us solvent. Second, we have a comfortable home to stay in during the weekend, and a small weekend getaway that allows us to separate (pretty much) work days and rest days). Third, there are two of us, which seems an ideal number for company without crowding. We're each tech-savvy and patient enough to help each other with the first thing when one of us gets stuck.

Still, being at home 24/7 is exhausting, and being able to cook at home has been more of a blessing than ever. We have always had certain mealtime rituals, and this experience has made them all the more important.

A simple dinner of homemade pizza and canned peaches is nicer with some Tchaikovsky and candlelight. The Malbec also doesn't hurt.

A Toast

We are not big on toasts, but we do always pause at the beginning of the meal for a ching-ching of the glasses, when we each say "Cheers to your health!" During the current pandemic, Pam started to say something a bit different, and now we both do "Cheers to our health!" It is a quiet recognition that we have gained another day of being healthy together, and for that we are increasingly grateful.

*Note: Our Whaling House weekend getaway is in a regular town, not on Cape Cod or one of the other seasonal places currently being overrun by people staying in their second homes out of season.