Skater Lunch Box #78

A hummus, veggie, and avocado wrap with a little tomato pick to hold it together; blueberries; and Korean rice cookies.

Real talk now. I usually schedule my posts about a week after the meals are eaten. It gives me time to edit the photos, schedule the post, and then revisit it to catch typos, etc. So I ate this last Monday. As you read this, I am what I am calling "sequestered." I do not know whether I have been exposed to coronavirus, but as a person with various autoimmune issues, I secured approval to work from home.

The university where I work has gone to online teaching for the whole of the rest of the semester and sent students home, unless by dint of visa or economic hardship they could not leave. Campus buildings are closed to anyone except those with the university's ID card. Some people have tested positive for coronavirus, with some departments under self-quarantine. The library hasn't yet made any major changes for staff, though they are expected to happen at some point soon. I chose to secure permission to work from home to take back control over the decision-making process, but I have every reason to believe I would be forced to do soon so if I hadn't.

But being at home all the time isn't easy for anyone, by "choice" or dictate. So this is a head's up: You're going to see, after midweek, some different kinds of content on Food for Dissertating for a little while. My current plan is to show you, rather than packed food, the meals I make at home with what I've got in my current stash. I will leave my apartment as little as possible. This may mean me going out less than once every 3 weeks. I may still, for the sake of my sanity, sometimes put my food into a lunch box for creativity and normalcy reasons, but mostly I expect you'll be seeing things on plates and in bowls.

I'm planning to show you my food, even if not packed or aspirational, for a few reasons. I know that a lot of you are in the same boat as I am, staying home in isolation ("social distancing"). It helps to reach out as we can, even virtually. But it's also important that I take care of myself, and blogging holds me accountable for that. Without working on presentation and color (which leads to better nutritional outcomes, probably), I could easily resort to a depressing parade of beige food. You, my readers, are often the reason I eat my veggies. (Not the only one. But a big one when I'm emotionally drained!)

I don't know if this means I will blog more or less in the coming weeks. But I hope, wherever you are, you'll continue reaching out and taking care of yourself, too. In that way, we take better care of everyone. Stay safe out there. And no hugging.