Gifts from Thy Bounty

I scooped up a cup or maybe two of the noodles into a bowl. I then poured the suspiciously pink pasta sauce on top of it. Like most of my meals, it was cold and had to be nuked. My parents unplugged the microwave before they went to bed. Even when I was young, unused appliances were not left plugged onto the power sockets. This was because of my parents experiences of appliances being damaged when there are unexpected power outages. Back in the old days, appliances were not made to handle those surges.

I plugged the microwave in and programmed it to heat my meal for two minutes; medium strength.

As I ate the pasta, I noticed that it had some sort of meat in it. I wondered if it was tuna. I still ate mostly plant based food but when I didn't have a choice, I would eat fish occasionally. As I continued to eat, the feeling got stronger that I was eating ground beef. So after maybe two years, I consumed beef. I wondered, would this lock down make me eat meat again?

What virtues that I have aspired for in the past would I let go?

My sister reached out to me last week to ask if could sponsor a meal for their front line staff. She works in a hospital and she described the scene there. All frontline personnel were in Personal Protective Equipment. She said that it looked like a scene from the pandemic movies that caught our imagination. Most of their team members were exhausted from the extended hours brought about by staff's shortage. Some of their team members could not come to work anymore because they've exhibited symptoms of the disease. There were others who refused to come to work for fear of their lives as well as their family members.

I decided to give a modest amount. I also asked some of my colleagues if they could donate. We didn't plan for an extravagant meal, in times like these, the weary soul and body appreciates the simple meals like lugaw, boiled eggs, tokwa't baboy. My sister also shared the good news that the neighboring restaurants around their hospital willingly donated meals to their team.

We did not know how long this lock down would last. We hoped it would end soon so we can go back to our old lives.