“Oh, please don’t worry. I’m not going into that cavity. That nerve’s already dying. A live, freshly-cut nerve is infinitely more sensitive. So, I’ll just drill into a healthy tooth until I reach the pulp. Unless, of course, you can tell me that it’s safe.”

That seems to be the Twenty-thousand-dollar question and there is nothing guaranteed.  It is Day 78 of the lockdown for me and I still feel like a caged animal.  First the whole state was shut down, because of a virus that originated in China.  Then there was an unfortunate and tragic death that has shaken the whole country.  This caused “peaceful protests” as well as ensuing riots, vandalism, injuries and more deaths and looting.  Now our governor has decided that it is safe to start opening up the whole state with restrictions and still no chance to enjoy a haircut.  My Bride and I are of mixed emotions about this next phase.  I am glad to start having my freedoms back, but we have not had any carry-out dinners, even from our favorite restaurants.  First, I feel that it is more like having leftovers, because, by the time we get home, the meals will have to be reheated.  Second, she is still concerned about the virus, if it hasn’t dissipated by now, and that has kept her from wanting carry-outs.  The other concern, is that our governor still has time to add more lockdown days as we get close to the day of potential liberation.

As it stands, we are still enjoying our time together, as she hasn’t shot me, for being me.  Since it appears that I have gained a pound after seventy-eight days, the quality and the quantity of food is still stellar.  She is still much more adept at making meals, quickly and efficiently, compared to me, as I still require all day to make a sandwich and soup and probably dirty a dozen dishes in the process.   She knows the way to make me happy and content as she did when she made Shrimp Piccata, the dish would also be great with Prawns, but I am happy that we still have Jumbo Shrimp, the greatest oxymoron of all time for food.  When you add in some starch and some vegetables, you have a complete dinner. 

Well almost a complete dinner, I had to find a bottle of wine, and that hasn’t been too difficult of a job here, though we may have to fill in some holes shortly.  Each week now, since we are home all day, when the Recycling Truck comes to our house, our house is always quite noisy, as there is probably a dozen empty bottles clanging together as they leave the orange bucket to enter the truck with all the other recyclables that have already been amassed.  Either the men think that we are having illegal parties constantly or our livers are shot, neither of which are true, I have just had the free time, to finally start removing the labels off of bottles from past articles for my scrap books.  I found a bottle of Clos LaChance Bronzy Inca Chardonnay Monterey County 2007.  In 1987, Bill and Brenda Murphy planted a few rows of Chardonnay in their backyard, both for landscaping and for dreams of being vintners.  A few years later, they had a product good enough to sell and by 1992 they had their first vintage and in the next fifteen years they would go from two-hundred cases a wine to eighty-thousand cases; from three-quarters of an acre to one-hundred-fifty acres and a multi-generational family business.  The hummingbird is their logo and part of them since the first vintage and the winery is in San Martin, California.  The fruit for the Bronzy Inca Chardonnay is sourced from Monterey County.  I could not find this particular wine on their website, but if their other wines are made as well as this win, they are golden.  For a thirteen-year-old Chardonnay the color was still soft golden shade with nose giving a trace of vanilla.  The wine was still crisp with a touch of honey and lemon and a nice medium length finish with a tinge of flint or limestone.  A very pretty wine, that was even excellent a couple of days later.  It is safe in the house.