Life in the Time of Corona

(With heartfelt apologies to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of “Love in the Time of Cholera.)

Here are a few life-lines that keep us somewhat sane during this time:

Watching a great Rom-Com we missed first time around.

Knowing our temperatures are comfortably below normal.

Face-timing with family members, both far and near.

Finding, not one, not two, but three, little bottles of Purell in the back of a cupboard.

Maintaining an ample stash of Diet-Tonic water in the pantry.

Whoops.  Not so fast on that last one.  With a limit of two quarts of tonic water per grocery visit, there’s no such thing as an ample stash. And, since it’s a requisite staple for our 5:00 pm cocktail hour, we rely on an ample stash.

So, we ask why?   Why only two quarts?  Why, of all things, would diet tonic water be “limited?”   Not that we hoard, but we do go through a fair amount of it and it’s good to know it’s there.  So why? Why can’t we buy more?

The answer came quickly once we thought about it.  It’s the quinine, of course. And, yes, it would be wonderful if quinine could, indeed, be an antitoxin for the disease. We’d be the first in line to offer our dwindling support to the cause.

Right now tonic water’s scarce. It’s flying off the shelves. We grasp at straws. And bottles of quinine. Maybe, just maybe, quinine would help if we contracted the disease. It all sounded promising for a few days but, sadly, science tells us this rumor is just that.

During that short time, our stash went down and our hopes went up. I sure wish it had stayed that way.