Life in the Age of Corona
A Daily Diary
Wednesday, April 7th, 2021
Spring has Sprung
What a gorgeous spring day we had today.
Temperatures were around 26C with sunshine all day. The world around us has over the past week exploded into colors and flowers. Nature has come out in full force. It is simply beautiful and the warm temperatures are lifting my spirits. It is as if I am emerging out of a long period of hibernation. I want to be as active as my garden.
My winter clematis is in full bloom and the Japanese rose is just starting as are some of my spring flowers, like the Daffodils and Tulips. The snowdrops somehow gave us a miss this year. Instead the winter and spring Camelia are doing their best to compete for attention. And my lawn has transformed itself into a field of violets. It is so beautiful to look at, my eyes just cannot get enough.
With the warmer spring weather, we will also use our garden more, have more social events, reach out to entertain those we have not seen in almost ayear now; I hope and so slowly return our life to normal.
It started today. My lunch friend had asked me over for an aperitif after my 17:00 swim slot. We sat our in their back yard enjoying some lovely German wine and nibbles.
The birds are making a racket from dawn to dusk chirping like there is no tomorrow. Life is just springing up everywhere and it is a joyful time. Not least of all as EM is now also eligible for a shot, though I have not yet been able to secure an appointment for her. Come May we will hopefully both be fully vaccinated, just in time to enjoy summer.
We are so looking forward to our boat trip in Turkey, though I have as yet to book the flights to Fetihye. I just am unable to make up my mind on whether to overnight in Frankfurt, Istanbul or Fetihye on the way there (and possibly back). Going via Istanbul may mean more paperwork, going via Frankfurt means getting on a flight at 6:40 in the morning, while spending the night in Fethiye makes it difficult to align incoming flights with the rest of the party. However, these are minor issues if we get to go. Two weeks on a boat, what bliss! And of course, COVID compliant as we will be socially distanced from the rest of the world, huddling only with our fellow travelers. Only three more months to go. And with six days in Germany on either end of the trip, there might even be time for EM and I to pop over to Madrid and check out the university before she makes her final decision!
I read today that Germany expects to have vaccinated most adults by the end of June making our adventure ever more likely to happen. I just worry about D. and A. and their ability to join, as D. is still reorientating herself workwise. Not sure if she can take the time of. If she cannot we may have to make do with A. and P. instead or I shall have to try and find takers for their cabin. I am confident things will somehow work themselves out. Kismet!
A little worrying is the rise in new infections in the USA, 75k new infections over the past twenty-four hours bring the USA total to 31.6 million today. This may well be related to youth sports, where some events, like volleyball and ice hockey competitions, might have become super-spreader events. To mitigate risks experts recommend bi-monthly testing of students and monthly testing for students engaged in sport. Though I suspect the bulk of new infections are related to the usual: not maintaining the recommended distance, not wearing masks, indoor dining and so on.
The vaccine developed by Oxford university and manufactured by AstraZenca continues to have bad press and be under scrutiny. As there are rare side effects with the Oxford vaccine causing blood clotting, the UK will now offer an alternative to people younger than 30. In Germany it is administered to 65 and older. The UK has now licensed and received its first doses of Moderna vaccine, which it is now beginning to roll out to younger people.
AstraZeneca has just announced it will meet all of its contractual arrangements with the UK and the EU on time. Now it is just a question of do people want this shot given he blood clotting issues.
The other big discussion is now about vaccine passports. I very much struggle to understand this heated debate. Many of us have carried such passports for all of our lives, initially issued nationally and later standardized by the World Health Organization. I fail to understand why individual nations are debating issuing vaccine passports now and much less why national passports won’t help. Why does not everyone use the little yellow book?
I will see if I can have mine stamped when I go for my second shot!
