Hunkered In The Bunker: Day One

Day 1 of Quarantine: “We see people, wandering in the rain, drawn and haggard, a hardscrabble shuffle and defeated look on their faces – on the hunt for canned chili, Purell, and breakfast waffles. Sometimes, they stop, and through our binoculars we watch as they raise their bony finger to our air vent and we can hear them mouth the words: ‘there’s food in there.'”

Okay, so we drifted a little, took a shot at that Dystopian novel within us, and Day One of the New CovidPocalypse wasn’t anything at all like that. We made a Turkey breast because we were in need of Comfort Food.

We’re also making adjustments, just like everyone else in the 24/680, but being the descendants of Gold Miners and ranchers and believing in always having a ready-reserve larder we avoided those last-minute lines and have been eating well – though much less in case we need to stretch things going forward and start going all Donner Party on the neighbors.

We penned a minor little story about our collective New Abnormal in the confines of the 24/680 and were amazed by the number of visits it received – far beyond our usually well-attended digital circles. And then we realized there are a ton of new people at home, looking around for the latest news on product availability in local stores, checkout lane tussling, Freeway FreeForAlling (continuing into today, for some odd reason) and generally some insight into what’s happening to us all. So, welcome News Newbies.

The nice thing about our particular set-up, of course, is that you can all write in – interacting with us or your neighbors, and that part of what we do has been working out very well. Not to say things aren’t getting a little testy already, because they are, but most folks seem prepared and willing to soldier forth into a world many people saw coming but apparently no one planned for.

And here we are. Luckily, Total Dystopia hasn’t descended because we still have power, using it to keep in touch with readers via our Flash Alerts and here, and also to binge-watch old Lovejoy episodes we recently re-discovered.

So far, civility is still the norm – unless of course you happen to get to that last box of Baby Wipes the same time five others Survivors do; or are driving, in which case it appears all bets are off and people are flinging all manner of things at one another. We’re not venturing out until we up-armor the News24/680 News Pinto. Yes, some readers in San Ramon noted, there was an incident at a household last night that ended in a trip to the hospital and possibly one to jail – but the rules of civilization still seems to be holding firm.

Apart from some minor tussles no real sign of CoronaMadness to report thus far. Yay.

As part of our effort to keep you all amused, or at least busy, we’re announcing a Best Quarantine Recipe Contest, of sorts, because we haven’t a clue what to award you as a prize since we’re all under house arrest – but we know you like to cook and everyone likes to eat so perhaps there’s some fun to be had in the process.

Here’s a photo of our effort, dinner for two with side dishes and the promise of Turkey sandwiches ahead for at least the next couple of days. We’ll see…

So far, so good here in our little slice of the 24/680. We’re hoping the same for you all and hope you will drop by for a visit. We’re here, open for business, and maintaining proper social distancing protocols.

Hang in there, Fellow Coronans.