I miss the “Hunt”.

April 3, 2020 – I miss the “Hunt”.

         They have a saying here in the South that I find charming, “I am hunting for [blank], have you seen any in your travels?”

         This is Southern Belle language for shopping . . . ‘hunt’ or ‘hunting’. 

         I learned this from a neighbor and friend Gerry Hester, God rest her soul, who also taught me about proper Southern funeral etiquette.

         I am a list shopper – what is on my list is what I want and I want exactly what I want and seldom do I make-do with something inferior or not the brand I want.

         HMMMMMMM . . . at this juncture, in this pandemic . . . that does not fly at all, now does it?   So, I am in new territory, I am learning to change, learning to ad-lib.

         I am being flexible when the stores don’t have my husband’s brand of bread.  I pick out something similar, knowing that adding a package of croissants to the grocery cart will help solve the wrong bread choice when it comes to making sandwiches for lunch.  Breakfast toast is one thing, but lunch-sandwiches is another. He has never turned his nose up at a croissant-based sandwich.

         But, I still have a tiny bit of “hunt” in me and I miss it.  I miss pushing the cart down the fresh fruit aisle and deciding what I want, does this pineapple smell fresh or will it sit on my counter for two weeks to ripen, are these bananas pristine with no bruises, how firm and heavy is this grapefruit?

         I miss pondering in the store, things like, “these are just coming into season, those are organic and look scrumptious, or I don’t like the dull haze on these grapes”.   I guess what I am saying is – I miss choices as well  – the choices in the hunt now are what is left on almost bare shelves that I can make do with.

         Gosh, I didn’t realize how spoiled I was having so many choices of low salt, low fat, organic . . . . three different brands of green beans . . . such luxury we used to have and the realization will we ever get that back after this pandemic is done?  How many grocery stores will survive this?

         I am also talking about the browse.  While picking up hair shampoo, is there anything new and interesting in the makeup department while I am here?

         I miss it - I miss it all - the hunt,  the choice, and the browse.

         Today I ordered groceries for curbside pickup this morning.  That was fun in its own way.  Asking for things that are not milk and bread, or ‘regional things’, but asking for Manischewitz fine egg noodles, and Hunt’s diced tomatoes with basil and garlic.  It was so funny on my end, me apologizing to the gal as I asked for each ‘exotic’ items.  Some items the store gal had to look up on the store’s computer inventory to see if they even sell it.  She was a good sport and sweet about it all.

         We’ve gone without ice cream for three weeks and I finally got the courage to order some. They didn’t have my husband’s favorite, black cherry, so we ended up with raspberry.

        

         When I came back from the curbside grocery store pickup, my husband rushed out to the car to carry in groceries.

         We unpacked them and when he found the ice cream he proudly said,

         “You done good.”

         It made me think I’d gone off hunting with a rifle and had a pair of dead rabbits slung over my shoulder as I darkened the door of our rustic log cabin.

         “Done the best I could,”  I answered and put the ice cream in the freezer.

         I know one thing – that ice cream will taste incredible later today or this evening!