Made It Out

it is 8:30 a.m. in the holy city of safed.  i finally made a supermarket run.  it is a seven minute walk from my home.  it is not a huge store.  i had my list in hand and my mask on my face.  they have a box of gloves in the front of the store as well as disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.  i took the dogs out first, at around 6:30 a.m.

it felt a bit surreal to be in a supermarket again.  i went straight to the organic products section.  i needed my oats.  i couldn't find them and luckily, the store clerk found them in another aisle mixed in with the regular oats.  i also bought tahini paste, more peanut butter, rice milk with almonds and a nut and raisin mix.  everything was on sale.  i guess people in quarantine here in the neighborhood; aren't so much into organic products.  i wanted to make chumus and grabbed a can of organic chickpeas.  i was so elated.  when i got home i saw that it was white beans.  it is still good.  maybe i can make a soup.

i am taking antibiotics for a tooth problem.  i didn't want to get on a bus and go to town yesterday.  that's about a twenty minute ride.  i have a pharmacy closer to my home but they require a prescription.  i did not have the strength to call my clinic and inquire if a doctor could call in a prescription to the local pharmacy for me.  i came up with the perfect solution.  i emailed a few friends and neighbors to ask of they had some antibiotics lying around their house.  the Sephardi grandma for sure, had to have some.

i couldn't wait until she returned downstairs so i called a friend who lives down the street from a pharmacy; where they do not require a prescription.  i was also running low on eye drops but it didn't really bother me too much.  my friend got the pills and also bought a bottle of eye drops for me.  she sent them up with a taxi.  when the Sephardi grandma finally returned home in the evening; she brought me the antibiotics.  i am set for awhile.

i went online to see what you can use for dry eyes besides eye drops.  i read that it is beneficial to wash eyelids with baby shampoo.  i thought that this was crazy at first.  surely, shampoo would burn the eyes.  i have since, done it twice and it was fine.  i shall continue this regimen.  i also continue to gargle with salt water for my tooth and for my throat.  i still spray my mouth and nose area with aloe vera first aid solution.  i wonder if any of this is actually working.  i read about corona pink eye and corona toes.  do we not have enough to worry about? 

as i was walking home form the supermarket i reflected on my state of health.  i am a cancer survivor. i have a heart issue, a large brain tumor, and now a lung tumor growing, i am also in my 69th year of life.  could i possibly survive the virus???  any of these other things could take me out before.  who knows????  i didn't stop to sit on a bench like i always do.  i kept on climbing the flights of steps to my house.  when i got home i wiped down all of the cartons and canned goods.  i then washed my hands with soap.

i defrosted some chicken and a pound of ground beef.  i am thinking about making stewed chicken and meatballs.  yesterday i gave the dogs hotdogs.  i didn't have any.  i had poached eggs for breakfast, oatmeal for lunch and a matzah brie for supper.  i am cooking without spices.  i am keeping the food very simple.  i am still chomping away on raw ginger. it helps with the tooth pain.

i bought some pitas so i don't have to just eat matzah now.  i must have some breakfast so i can take my antibiotic.  wishing you all a good Shabbat.  i hope i remember later that it is Shabbat.  i have been having a bit of trouble with this lately.