Corona update
In the last two days, we heard that a parent of a friend died because of Covid-19 and one parent of another friend is in intensive care.
And all of a sudden, this whole thing feels a lot more real and threatening.
Iām quite shocked to be honest and feel so sorry for them. š
Apart from those terrible news, our own immediate life feels somehow weirdly quite normal. This probably has to do with the fact, that ā as mentioned previously ā weāre used to working from home, and that we live in a relatively quiet part of town, where you donāt really notice things like traffic being less or all the shops are closed (because there are no shops).
We (still?) go outside regularly ā which is generally allowed. And we stick to the rules: just our family/household, and donāt stand/sit/walk close to others. A lot of others do, too. Both the āgoing outsideā bit, as well as the ārule-followingā.
We hope this will remain possible, because spending all day inside would be pretty challenging (mainly mentally) ā even shorter-term. Zoe needs to go and play outside. And so do we. The weatherās lovely at the moment, and weāre now extra glad we moved to a part of town that is close to the Rhine, and offers a bit of nature. Beaches are close-by, grassy areas, a little piece of forest, and even a couple of rope-swings on trees. Thatās all we need to keep everyone happy (as of course, playgrounds and any play-opportunities inside remain closed). And those areas are big enough to easily avoid immediate contact with others.
You do notice a difference for sure, and itās not like anything got easier ā far from it. But we feel weāve been lucky so far. The main limitations have been that we canāt do all the things we normally enjoy, like meeting friends & family, going to the cinema, visiting playgrounds, going out, having band rehearsal, etc. But that are really very mild limitations.
But yes, āthe thingā is constantly on our minds and we worry a bit about our parents.
So far we are healthy ā both physically and mentally. š¤
Yesterday I went grocery-shopping with a mask for the first time. It was simply a piece of black cloth I wrapped around my neck and lower part of my face (I read that any mask is better than no mask, so I simply took a fitting piece I found in the closet). We wondered whether people would think I might rob the supermarket. But since roughly 50% of shoppers wore some type of mask, it quickly felt (almost) normal.
Thereās now almost always a queue in front, since they limit the number of people that can enter at once.
I did take a camera but didnāt photograph anyone or anything. I didnāt have the courage and also felt it was inappropriate ā at least for now. Iād like to eventually get some pictures of what daily life looked like during these times, though.
I watched this video of the maiLab channel assessing the situation and laying out how and when we might get back to some relatively ānormalā life. If you understand German, I recommend it.
Thatās it. Stay safe!