I have a bit of a burning question. How much “COVID talk” is okay?? I have been thinking about this a lot lately and am curious to know what others think about it.
From my observations, I have noted two major camps regarding this (of course, with some people falling in the middle). It seems like some people are either pro-“talk about COVID-19 24/7”, involve it in every conversation, read the news 250 times a day, spend the majority of your time down in the dumps because everything is just so terrible right now…or, they are pro-“look on the bright side”, talk about normal non-COVID subjects, share exciting new endeavors you have experienced as a result of this time at home, appreciate the slow down from normal life.
In fairness, I really haven’t talked about this much with many actual, live, real people. I have noticed this sentiment mostly on either TV, social media, blogs or podcasts. Come to think of it, besides my family, I actually haven’t had much contact lately with people besides my imaginary friends on TV, social media, blogs or podcasts! LOL.
One prominent fitness influencer I follow on Instagram posed the question to her large audience about what kind of content they wanted to see during this time. She got a variety of responses, but she highlighted that many people commented they are “sick of” COVID memes, home workouts, Zoom call screenshots and just people talking about social distancing/ lockdown issues in general. It seemed her followers wanted to see more positivity and to just talk about everyday topics, almost as if COVID-19 weren’t happening.
However, I have also seen other posts from people complaining that they just can’t stand perky, cheerful conversation during this time and that they can’t even think about anything “normal” right now. In one blog post I read recently, the writer seemed so distraught by it all that she almost seemed offended by people that were sort of “carrying on” as if nothing were happening.
I have noticed that many of my favorite podcasts have also shifted to discussing COVID-19 in some way or another in most episodes (which I do understand, because it would probably be awkward to host a 60 minute podcast episode while completely ignoring the massive elephant in the room). I have actually been impressed with how most podcast hosts have managed to balance this strange time with their usual subject matters. That being said, everywhere I turn I am still hearing about COVID.
Anyway, for me personally, I would say I am generally a bit sick of it altogether. I’m just tired of hearing about it and thinking about it and I’m definitely sick of experiencing all of the side effects of a global pandemic. I realize that I am fortunate to currently be mostly just “inconvenienced” by it all- travel plans, activities, hobbies, family time disrupted. Thank God no one in my family has gotten sick thus far. (I suppose if I do end up losing my job, my attitude may turn more to the 24/7 complaining camp real fast).
There are moments that I also definitely do like decompressing about it some, be it in real conversation or here on this blog! There’s a lot happening and a lot of feelings for everyone right now and I’m not trying to deny its existence. I think it can certainly be helpful for people to sort of “get it all out” on blogs or social media posts or just venting to a friend or family member. Plus, I do like the idea of documenting our thoughts and experiences on this time. Like it or not, it’s becoming part of history and could be fascinating to look back on.
But I also personally really have no qualms or issues with continuing to talk about regular life too, about interesting topics, positivity or even superficial things that may seem less important right now. I guess for me, I don’t feel that anything is really gained by bringing life to an absolute screeching halt. Discussing normal life or other miscellaneous topics like what books people are reading or fun movies they have watched won’t affect what happens with the pandemic outside my walls at all. And personally, I think that I welcome the distraction! I really can only handle a pretty small amount of news and negativity at one time. (Also, since this is my blog, I feel pretty free to talk about whatever the heck I want! Hehehe! 😄 )
Now, changing gears to something non-COVID related….
FOOD!
I snapped some pictures of a couple of our meals this week. We had two of my faves, and since they are not traditional American fare, I thought I’d share.
Up first earlier this week was what we call “carne molida en salsa verde”. To my knowledge this dish doesn’t have an official name. The translation is just ground beef in green (tomatillo) sauce. Basically it involves cooking up some ground beef, diced potatoes and pinto beans with some seasoning. Then, in a separate pan you boil some tomatillos, onion, several jalapenos (and I added a few dried arbol chiles). You then blend the above along with a little garlic and cilantro. Once you have the sauce, you pour it over the meat mixture, stir in some chicken bouillon and voila. Done. Really quite easy and SO DELICIOUS!! Also, SPICY!! (We are basically obsessed with spicy food. The spicier, the better). This is then eaten in a corn tortilla. Yummmm.
Carne molida en salsa verde (aka: Ground Beef in Green Salsa)
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Then later in the week we had Caldo de Camaron, or Shrimp soup. This is a broth based soup which is very simple but delicious. There are many variations of this but I usually just put in carrots and potatoes and shrimp. In a small saucepan, boil a bunch of dried arbol chiles (the more, the spicier) with some onion and I usually put a tomato in too. You then blend it into a paste and strain it so you are only getting the liquid (and not any little chunks of the chile shell). Again, very simple. We simmer the shrimp, potato and carrot in water and add chicken and shrimp bouillon to it to taste, but you could do this in homemade chicken broth too if you wanted. We just never have that on hand. We separate out a bunch of the plain shrimp soup for the kids before then adding the spicy chile liquid into the broth. Garnish with some cilantro, squeeze fresh lime juice over it and done! Yum yum.
Caldo de Camaron (aka: Spicy Shrimp Soup)
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| Basically my life motto 😂 |
Daily Gratitude:
Today I am grateful for writing! Until I started this blog, I didn’t really realize what a fun and amazing release it is to just WRITE something. It has been such a great escape, a way to express myself in a way that my generally pretty introverted self just normally can’t. I have been having a lot of fun just sitting down and writing about whatever I want! Even if no one ever reads my words, I know that I am gaining a lot of benefits from the practice of doing it. I am grateful for some people who have encouraged me in this little blogging endeavor as well. 💗
GRATEFUL KAE 
I'm sort of in the middle on COVID content. I do not read the news non-stop or watch tv coverage because there just isn't that much new information most of the time. I do read our local paper online each day to see what the local developments are. We are going to really increase our testing soon thanks to a partnership between Mayo and the U of M. So instead of 2k tests/day, we'll have 20k which is going to really help I think as we need to know who has this/who has immunity. And they are really focusing on serology testing which I also really important. So I follow developments on that as well as the # of new cases/deaths each day just to get a gauge on how things are progressing here in MN. That's kind of it. I'd say my podcast content is sort of split on whether they focus on COVID. Some talk about it a lot, some make minimal mentions to it. I'm fine with both. I don't think you can ignore it because it is rocking the world of a lot of people. But I think you can still talk about things other than COVID. I do feel like most of my content ends up being COVID-adjacent because it's really impacted our life to have our son home with us 24/7 when we are so used to him being in daycare. But we have decided to send him back on 5/1 so soon WFH will feel a bit more manageable for us!The dishes you made look so good! Especially that first one! I am going to grow tomatillos in my garden this summer so I will have to keep that one in mind. We love Mexican flavors so I am sure that would be a hit for us!
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I think you sound similar to where I'm at! Trying to stay on top of new developments but not being over consumed with it either. I agree, we really can't ignore it either as it definitely is affecting so many people. It is hard to talk about almost anything without something COVID related slipping in there because it really is impacting pretty much everything. Having your son back in daycare will be super helpful for your WFH life!! Although I'm sure you have mixed feelings on it all. It seems like you made a good compromise with keeping him home for a long while but now sending him back so work can continue. I can't imagine working full time with such a young kiddo home!
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