Back in 2001 I was a features editor at Star Newspapers handling, among other things, the home and garden section. After 9/11 and the ensuing panic, I was introduced to the concept of “cocooning,” a tendency where people shifted their attention inward, staying home rather than going out, enhancing their home spaces rather than traveling to see new things.
Now as the largest life disruption since then unfolds, it’s happening again, only this time it’s not personal. More than any mere trend, staying in has gone viral, so to speak. Let’s call it Strongly Encouraged Cocooning.
Our collective cocooning already has had some expected consequences, including a massive increase in the use of the word “hunkering.” There’s also been food hoarding and a shortage of toilet paper that may or may not have been further fueled by widespread reports of toilet paper shortages.
“We’d better go out and get some just in case.”
I went on one of those Just In Case missions a few nights back, not explicitly for groceries or toilet paper, though I admit had TP been available at the home improvement store I would have picked up a package.
Rather, I was in the market for seeds, a purchase I usually make around this time of year. I like to grow things in my back yard, and some plants, such as peas, are easy to start from seed. Peas also are one of the earliest crops to go into the ground. It may still feel wintry outside, but it’s time to put the peas in.
For most of the other greenery in my garden, I usually am among the throngs of people who swarm garden centers in May, buying plants somebody else started from seed to install in my flowerpots and veggie beds. It’s like hoarding, only it’s annual and often involves annuals.
By May, we all hope Strongly Encouraged Cocooning will be over. But if it isn’t, I thought, I’ll be prepared. I bought tomato, jalapeño, bell pepper, cucumber and zucchini seeds to go along with my peas, as well as some seed starting soil mix.
The home improvement store wasn’t a hoarding destination. There were few people shopping, making social distancing rather easy that evening. Checking out, the clerk — one of those modern heroes who risk contact with a wide range of people of uncertain hygiene habits — indicated I wasn’t alone in my impulse seed purchases.
“We’ve had a lot of that tonight,” she said nonchalantly. “People planning their victory gardens, I suppose.”
I hadn’t thought of it that way. All of a sudden, my fear-induced seed buying spree became heroic too.
Mentally patting myself on the back as I left, I figured I’d be like those members of the Greatest Generation whose self sufficiency at home and potato plots helped America win World War II.
Well, maybe it’s not that heroic, but planing my victory garden could help me win against any adverse effects of Strongly Encouraged Cocooning.
And as this weird age gets underway in earnest, these little feats of heroism are popping up everywhere. A plethora of free music performances are popping up on social media and there are reports of neighbors singing together from windows and doorsteps. People are putting up decorations on their homes to amuse and delight families going out for walks.
And then there’s time to explore the upside of the cocooning concept — making our immediate surroundings a cozier and more comforting place to be.
For me, right now, that means planning my veggie plot and soon starting seeds. But I remain optimistic and hopeful that by early summer things will be back to normal, and I can go purchase some tomato and pepper transplants to dig into my garden beds.
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Because some of my previous attempts at starting veggies from seed have been defeated, I’m a bit concerned about the success of my victory garden effort.
Either way, the process of planting is a way to embrace the more benign aspects of cocooning, and it could be productive as well.
And it sure sounds better than hunkering.
Landmarks is a weekly column by Paul Eisenberg exploring the people, places and things that have left an indelible mark on the Southland. He can be reached at [email protected].