New Mexico is dealing with the outbreak of Covid-19 across our state along with the rest of the world, and, if you’re like me and staying home to be safe (I hope you can and are), you might be spending more time than is normal on social media and/or consuming news from around the globe that is keeping you anxious and worried.
President Theodore Roosevelt lived a remarkable life, and overcame many, many challenges before he became President of the United States. He took a quote from a book, and then made it famous: “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”
He knew from hard won experience that things can seem too hard, too impossible, and so he learned to focus on the task at hand.
As I watched social media, I noticed a trend: friends of mine that never, or almost never, cooked their own food were using the time at home to experiment in the kitchen. A technology journalist I know (who is no cook) recently tweeted this out:
Breakfast Creativity in tough times
I decided to take the plunge- I stayed offline for the morning, started the coffee, and checked the fridge. I had onions, oranges, sweet peppers, an avocado, bagels and eggs. My normal breakfast is usually a cup of coffee, so I took my time and decided to enjoy the process.
I turned on music, peeled my orange, sliced my avocado and caught myself singing along to music.
I scrambled the eggs in a mug, and put my bagel in the toaster. The frying pan was heating up, and with a sizzle, I poured my eggs into the pan.
Who knew Pandemic Breakfast could be so pretty!
Immediately, I started making mistakes- the toaster wasn’t set for long enough, and at first I kept wondering why my bagel wasn’t cooking. After I finally set the toaster to the right cook time, I saw my eggs were starting to cook, and my veggies were still on the plate.
My pandemic breakfast Top Chef dreams fading fast, I scooped the veggies into the eggs, and then saw I made a pile of peppers and onions in the middle. This was a disaster, and I imagined some famous chef like Gordon Ramsey being very disappointed in me.
I managed to spread the veggies around, the coffee was done, and I actually got it all cooked up great, slapped it on the bagel as a sandwich. (It was delicious!)
I sat outside in the gorgeous Albuquerque morning sun, sipped my coffee and enjoyed orange and avocado slices with my bagel sandwich. I found myself smiling at not burning down the house and enjoyed my breakfast instead of racing through or skipping it altogether. Had it not been for our chaotic time, I might never have tried this in my normal day to day. Now I look forward to it when I wake up.
Now, I am loving my breakfast each day, and can say slowing down hasn’t been the worst thing. As you go through your days, New Mexico, try and find something at home to take some joy in. Maybe it’s something you’ve never tried before, and you might find you really enjoy it.
Hey New Mexico! Do you have something new you’ve done before but now find yourself enjoying it? Let me know, I’d love to hear about it: [email protected]