When did week days and weekends stop being different? Today is March 23.
Apparently my body and I are at war. See, for some odd reason I am apparently unable to wake up to my alarm clock if there is nowhere I have to be. During the school week, and even on weekends when I have early appointments or chores to run, I have no problem waking up on time. I rarely oversleep, and when I do it seems to only happen if I’m feeling under the weather. Now, however, I can’t seem to rouse myself from dreamland. Regardless of how early I go to bed, I’ve been unable to wake up before 9:30 a.m. I suppose this must be my body’s way of telling me I need to stock up my sleep bank, which seems to require more than 9 ½ hours of slumber each night.
On the bright side, I have taken this extra energy and put it to good (or at least tasty) use. After waking up this morning, I decided to make banana bread. This delicious treat is perfect for any time of the day, and it only takes about 1 ½ hours to make. I pulled out all of the necessary ingredients and began measuring, cracking, mixing and stirring. While I used to make banana bread multiple times a year, I haven’t had the time to bake simply for pleasure since the start of the semester.
We had plenty of ingredients, though I did have a slight stumble when it came to cracking eggs. When opening the fridge, I grabbed a pair of eggs from the first carton I saw. When I went to break them and mix them into the batter, though, I couldn’t get the whites to break. I tapped the first egg against the edge of the bowl, but try as I might, the egg seemed to be solid instead of liquid. As I pressed into it with my thumbs, I began to laugh. Apparently, as I was grabbing ingredients, I selected two hard boiled eggs rather than two normal ones. After chuckling with my mom about the mixup, I switched to raw eggs and proceeded with the recipe.
The batter was perfectly smooth, save the chopped pecans I’d added, and it baked flawlessly. When I took it out of the oven to cool, the top and sides were a crunchy, golden-brown case surrounding a delectable, gooey center. It’s fair to say my family and I devoured plenty in a short amount of time, though I am saving enough for tomorrow’s breakfast. [TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery content_images=”329732,329734,329735,329736,329737,329738,329739,329747,329748,329740,329749,329741,329742,329744″ content_images_size=”large” content_images_titledata=”caption” content_title=”How to make banana bread in 14 steps. Click on the top left image to see the process in sequence.” data_grid_preloader=”-1″ lightbox_title=”caption” thumbnail_size=”large” lightbox_effect=”simpleSwitch”]Click on the top left image to see the steps in sequence.[/TS_VCSC_Lightbox_Gallery][penci_text_block block_title_align=”style-title-left” custom_markup_1=””]True to my word from yesterday, I took a break from reading today and instead reconnected with a friend who I hadn’t spoken to in quite some time. While we’d kept in touch via text after she moved out of Missouri at the end of the last school year, I think this was the first time we’d FaceTimed in a while. It was so nice to catch up with her and see how she is doing. Her younger siblings made me smile and laugh, and the shared humor we found in others’ panic about potential prom cancellations brightened my day.
In a time when we all seem to be isolated, it is nice to know people halfway across the country, and all around the world, are able to empathize with one another about shared experiences. Illness does not discriminate and has no regard for national, racial or socio-economic divisions. Responses from people across the globe have shown this; far and wide people are experiencing the effects of the coronavirus’ spread in a multitude of ways. As terrible and devastating as it is, this pandemic is also a jumping-off point from which true humility and a deepened connectivity within humanity can grow.
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” — Mother Teresa, Catholic saint
How did you spend your sixth day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.[/penci_text_block]
