It’s been a while since I last blogged! During this quarantine, I’ve decided to get back into the great habit of journaling and blogging in a personal tone, hoping to keep both you and me entertained. You might feel like you’ve missed a lot, perhaps even a whole season! I’ll try to fill in the gaps as we go along. In the meantime, stay safe and remember to wash your hands.
Here we are on Day 5.
Today is March 25, and although California’s stay-at-home order took effect on March 20, I hadn’t set foot in a store since March 12. After spending seven years in the Guatemalan jungle, shopping twice a month is more than enough for me. If I didn’t like vegetables, I’d probably avoid the supermarket even more.
I really dislike crowded stores, people’s rudeness, the pushing and cutting in line, and just shopping in general. Fortunately, I’ve been keeping an eye on COVID-19 developments in other countries and knew what might be coming, unlike many others here in the United States.
When I decided to go shopping, a week before the infamous toilet paper shortage of 2020, I took stock of what I already had. Despite living in a small RV, my shelves and freezer were packed. This is partly because I dislike supermarkets, but also because we had been moving our RV every couple of weeks, sometimes farther from stores. As a Parisian who got her driver’s license at 29, I still don’t understand why people drive so much for nothing. If I go to the store, I only go once.
Another reason is that I love a good deal. Whenever I find a bargain, I stock up. For instance, I can now shop at military commissaries and recently scored 15 pounds of assorted meats for under $2 per pound. There’s also a nearby USO with a free pantry for military families where you can take three items each visit. Among my best finds there have been 40 pounds of dog food, half-gallon bottles of olive oil, and even my favorite perfume!
So, my car was stocked with a few bags of dog food, enough to last our two Great Danes for three months. I had plenty of canned goods like tuna, chicken, and vegetables, as well as dry items like pasta, lentils, split peas, rice, and beans. The freezer still held most of the 15 pounds of meat and some bread.
I made a quick Costco run for bacon, 60 eggs, and some butter, and treated myself to some French cheese and beers. Then, I went to a Mexican supermarket for fruits, veggies, and a few other essentials that might run low if we went over a month without shopping, such as mayonnaise.
With all this preparation, I’m ready to go 4 to 6 weeks without needing to shop. Yesterday, while on a bicycle ride, we spotted an empty Vons (part of Safeway supermarkets) and picked up some bananas, pancake mix, and ice cream. But those were just treats we could have done without, so there was no stress about HAVING TO be in a store. If there had been a line, we wouldn’t have gone in.
It’s surprising how, even in normal times, people don’t plan ahead and crowd supermarkets on paydays and weekends, especially when they could order online and use a drive-through pick-up instead. I’m grateful that my jungle survival skills have come in handy and for the ability to buy enough at once to avoid stores for weeks.