Thursday, April 16th, 2020
Today is an even number day and 2x3 is 6, I like 36 as a number. It is also a sunny, though cool, day. Weather has a major impact on my spirit and every day the sun shines is a good day. If we could however not walk outside - like my South African, Spanish and Italian friends – it would be truly miserable.
Like on most days, our hike around the neighborhood was the highlight of the day so far. Even though we largely meander along the same roads, we notice something new every day, not only the changing nature, but also ornaments in gardens, little features on houses, the progress on a number of construction sites and so on. Someone has actually created a scavenger hunt for the Hood!
We also monitor the water levels on the tarp covering our community pool, longing for the day we can get into a pool again. We both miss swimming very much and I miss Aikido practice terribly. I have all the intentions of practicing with EM, doing sword work and practicing Shikko, but somehow it is not the same and I am listless despite my love for the art. I had planned to attend two seminars over the summer, one in DC and one in Berlin, each five days long. Wondering if (a) I may not have forgotten everything and (b) I will be able to travel. Never mind testing. I will need hours of practice before I can even contemplate that.
My hometown, Hamburg has now moved all public transport to cashless payments via an App, while I welcome this and it shows how economies increasingly move towards digitalization, it is somewhat discriminatory towards those not so affine to technology like my mum and elderly people in general. This ties into a debate one can currently witness in German media suggesting vulnerable and elderly people should continue to isolate as the economy is slowly being reopened. I am very much in two minds about this. On one level I want to protect those dear to me and urge them to avoid all social contacts, not go out to shop, take public transport and so on, on another level I feel it is rather discriminatory. Surely there must be a way everyone can participate in society and be safe; even in the absence of a vaccine.
Today, I finally found an explanation to the hoarding of toilet paper. Apparently it gives people peace of mind. Given the empty shelves, it does make me wonder though how many have this need to hoard anything and everything to cope with anxiety. There must be far more overly anxious people out there than I ever suspected.
News from the virus continues to show increasing number with total known infections in the now at 667k. In light of the increasing pressure to reopen the economy and lift #stayhome I found the news that testing is still a major problem in this country very disconcerting. Almost four months into the virus spreading across the globe and well over a months of #stayhome orders there are still not enough testing supplies. Experts seem to agree that the current state of testing (or rather the lack thereof) does not allow “reopening of economy”, unbelievable how disorganized the situation still is.
Given that people who are sick and self isolate, are not even appearing in the “known” stats is alarming. For example, the Intranet today featured an interview with one of our colleagues (recovered) who described the course of the illness. In addition to isolating in one room of the house for two weeks, the worst seems to be the complete absence of any medical attention. Neither he nor any of the family members were able to test. So the question is how many really are / were there?