Version 2.096

 Today felt like a strange day. Having last week off disturbed my sense of time and, honestly, my sense of time wasn't that great to begin with. My neighbor's sister, who was visiting their 86-year old mother, left today. Yesterday, for some odd reason, I had mentioned to them that The Fresh Market makes these amazing crab cakes that don't have bread crumbs, so I am able to eat them. Granted that they may have a slight cross-contamination, but luckily, I am not that sensitive. We also discussed cakes and, in Memphis, my favorite cake is also from The Fresh Market: it's a strawberry chantilly layer cake with slivered almonds all around it. 

Sometime during the day, I had the idea of grabbing some cake and crab cakes and taking it to them; maybe they could have it for dinner. The drive to the store seemed normal, traffic was flowing well, even though there were still lots of cars. It was around 5 PM, so that's rush hour in the U.S., but Memphis rush hour is never too bad, although I have never really driven in it day in and day out, so I have very few points of reference.

At the grocery store, there weren't that many people shopping, but every one was wearing a mask and we tried to social distance, although, I must admit that I have realized that I'm not very good at it. I misunderstood the direction of the flow to the fish counter, at the yogurt section, there was an employee organizing product and I just went and grabbed what I wanted, even though I broke the 6 ft rule. I have come to terms that I need to be better.

On the drive, I listened to All Things Considered and all of the stories were about the pandemic.One of the segments was about Texas, so I got to hear Wade Goodwin and that took me back to when I lived in Houston.

My neighbors were thrilled with the food and it was nice that they had a proper meal before the sister left. I know that this is a very difficult time for them, since their mother's health is not the best and one must be always on the look out for what could be a problem, like, not drinking enough water and getting dehydrated or developing a urinary tract infection. When you become very old, your body functions in a different way and most of us are not trained to see the signs. Plus, there is also the specter that any day might be the last.