Confinement, Day 5
I’m sitting here with the windows wide open and feeling that customary urge to go out and enjoy the warmth and light of Spring’s emergence in the parks of Paris. Oh, wait – that was before.
Of course, like everyone, I’ve been reading a lot. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) offers us this timely observation: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit still in a room alone.” *
Living with the same partner for forty years has given us both the time to work things out, basic things like personal agendas, pouting areas, and so forth. Then there’s what I like to call the principal secret for avoiding the divorce court, which I will divulge below.
Alas, Jacques and I used to go out frequently for lunch, but forget that now. I know, it’s a privilege, but that’s what we do. Did. Now, I’m inventing ways to reproduce some of our favorite restaurant items, at home. Sounds like work, but I do love to cook, and getting the ingredients has so far proven easy, for the stores and markets in Paris are still well-stocked, seasonal fruits and all.
But how I miss the gym! I’ve invented apartment substitutions for most of my workouts, but the ritual of getting out, going to my locker, meeting friends, an hour of pumping iron (machines, mostly), followed by the reward of relaxing, alone, in that wonderful sauna at 60°c and finally a calming shower was a healthy, almost daily ritual. I’ve protested, but the President Macron has not answered my emails…
Did I mention that we do have a secret for 40 years of sticking it out through thick and thin? Three words: separate toothpaste tubes.
*”Tout le malheur des hommes est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos dans une chambre”