Our family has watched daytime soap operas since before I was born. One of my earliest memories is coming home from kindergarten and watching the soaps on CBS (As the World Turns and The Guiding Light) with my grandmother who babysat us after school while my mom was at work. Years later, my mother, my sister and I got semi-addicted to Days of our Lives, which is one of the few hold-outs of revamped weekday daytime TV. (Most soaps were not so lucky, and got axed in favor of more talk shows and game shows.)

My mom is in assisted living now and I usually call her once a week. One of the things we talk about is “the soap.” We rehash the plot, fill one another in if we missed a day or two, and discuss how ridiculous the storyline has become (or always was?) and always question why we still waste our time watching it.

But, I think right now, “Days” and other fictional distractions are just what we need. While they do sometimes confront “real life” current issues (though not often or particularly well) the soap is taped so far ahead that the storyline now exists in a refreshingly pre-COVID19 bubble. People go from place to place, discussing their problems over meals at the local hang-out, and the most talked-about medical test proves or disproves the paternity of someone’s baby. Unlike watching a movie or TV show with a fixed time period, it just, well, goes on like normal life is supposed to, albeit in a heightened dramatic fashion.

And here we are, in our own real-life soap operas which take place mostly in our our homes, with a reduced cast of characters appearing in person. I haven’t taken a lot pictures in the past couple of weeks, except things I want to share with my remote family members, friends and co-workers. But here are some snaps from my recent activities.

Like many other people I have been experimenting with new recipes, including this naan bread using self-rising flour (the only kind left at the grocery one day) and Greek yoghurt. Not bad!

I ordered our ginseng friend and colleague Jim Hamilton’s novel… I can read it and call it research, right? It’s a good story so far.

“STAY WELL” is my new sign-off to everyone. We’ll see this through and get to the other side, just as everyone on Days of Our Lives has for 50 years on NBC!