My assignment at work today included all the excitement of people in Dallas arguing with each other about COVID-19 and a review of election law! You know it’s a productive day when you email the web guys a story that has a link to a PDF from the Texas attorney general’s office.

Naturally, on my way home, I decided to stop off for some guac.

I needed to relax. The other day, I saw a hornet outside the house, smokin’ a cigarette from the pack he had rolled up his sleeve.

The group, Avocados From Mexico, was dropping off avocados and fixin’s for grocery store employees across the area.

I caught up with one of them at a Kroger a few miles from the Texas School Book Depository, where Dallas County commissioners meet to argue with each other.

The spokesman from Avocados From Mexico explained they were delivering two thousand kits with avocados and chips to eight grocery stores in North Texas but also to grocery stores in New York and New Jersey.

“What do people in New York and New Jersey know about guac?!” I asked, explaining that I was from Ohio. “A reporter asks.”

They were delivering the kits to thank people who work at grocery stores for doing their best to keep everything stocked and gently encourage people not to buy all the toilet paper.

The spokesman [or “avocadist,” if you will] also said because people are home more, they’re experimenting with new ingredients. This was an opportunity to introduce New Yorkers to guac.

As someone who didn’t grow up with guac, I called it “guacamole” like a tourist when I first moved here. Now, I’ve got a taste for it and will say things like, “too much cilantro,” while sighing.

My family had raised me on calzone and manicotti, which are completely different dishes that just happen to involve filling pockets of dough with cheese, tomato sauce, meat and fixin’s. Any connoisseur knows the subtleties.

And now, I am a guac connoisseur.

The Avocados From Mexico group is introducing a new part of the country to guac.

For instance, I just emailed my brother: Quick! How would you incorporate guacamole into an Italian dish?!

Almost immediately, he provided a cornucopia of ideas:

Guacamole, he explained, could be added to an antipasto plate. Okay, he started with the easy one. But:

— Mexican Pesto: the colors even match. The guac could replace nuts to accommodate people with allergies

— Mexican Lasagna: Guacamole could replace ricotta cheese to accommodate vegans.

— “Two words,” he continued. “Guacamole Ravioli.”

While we’re all living in exile, this is a time for innovation.

My contribution: apparently, those murder hornets fry up really nice. I bet they go great with some guac.