Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Sunday, January 3rd, 2021

Reconnecting

As every day since our arrival in Germany the day started of with a leisurely breakfast which mum and I shared. I then left for an extended walk with a former colleague from the first job I ever held.

While I left after three years for greener pastures she stayed on, left and returned to become director of the education unit. We have stayed in touch over the years and catch up at least once a year. Normally our conversations are just about what is going on in our respective lives. This year it went far beyond to not only include the virus situation and the US election, but also work. Interestingly she is considering an appointment in a francophone country in the next year or two, while I am uncertain what it is that I want and what the next year might hold. Our two-hour walk was the excitement of the day.

The afternoon was spend reading while drinking elderberry punch. We then proceeded to burn down the candles on the Christmas tree before taking the ornaments down and discarding the tree.

It feels a little early to be doing so. Normally we keep it until January 6th, which is Orthodox Christmas. This year however the garbage collectors said they would pick up trees on the 4th, so ahead of schedule.

When we put up and trim the tree we do so to a bottle of champagne. Normally mum is stuck with the thankless task of taking it down by herself. Given this year I am here, we not only did this chore together, but following our trimming ritual enjoyed champagne while “de-trimming” the tree.

By the time the task is completed food is much needed and we had Brussel sprouts and a kale-Brussel sprout cross breed with fried sausages. Wild boar for me, regular sausages for mum. The evening is spent much like every evening during the pandemic; watching TV.

While virus numbers in Germany appear to be going down discussions about extending the lock down continue. I for one think it makes sense to hang in there for a few more weeks until the vaccine is more widely rolled out. This is not necessarily the case in the USA, where numbers continue to rise dramatically. January 2nd saw a 291k increase in new infections bringing the US total to 20.9 million reported cases. With that the US continues to have 25% of all globally reported cases (84 million) and death are also on the increase, nearing 360k which will be reached today.

There are big expectations for things to return to normal by mid 2021. I am one of those believing this; it does however hinge on vaccine rollout. For the next few months though it seems we will all have to live with infections dramatically increasing, especially with the mutant now spreading throught the USA. All the more reason to roll out the vaccines quickly. Praying the US gets its act together quickly. So far, the immunization program has not gone well. Here is hoping it will improve before the delivered doses of the vaccine reach their sell by date!

Last year was terribly stressful with the US election drama. There appears to be no end to it as it spills over into 2021. The GOP is set on a destructive path when it comes to democracy.Clearly very sore losers whose interest in power knows no bounds. I believe the journey the country has embarked on, delegitimizing the elections, is a dangerous path. Some 70 million Americans no longer have faith in the process and will not support the incoming president; that is if Joe Biden will even be inaugurated later in the month. The GoP is playing a dangerous game contesting electoral votes trying to have the will of the people suppressed and have congress elect the president. They are of course banking on the fact that Congress would cast ballots by state with each state having one vote. 26 of these are red, 24 blue.

I do not even want to contemplate what would happen if it really came to that, but civil war comes to mind.