Wednesday, May 19th, 2021
Today it feels like the first day of summer. We had a cloudless blue sky and temperatures reached 31C.
This has prompted me to open all screened windows in the house for airflow. Sadly, two of my office windows have no screens. For now, I keep them open while I am around. Soon that will no longer be feasible as the stupid Cicadas are very poor in flight and may just inadvertently swarm into the house. Once they emerge in force there will also be no outside office like today. The creatures are harmless, but incredibly ugly and the idea of being in a cloud of flying insects is not appealing.
The night was cool, so still only a few emerge every day. Supposedly this will change just in time for the IBDP graduate picnic. I am hoping the ground in the park may take a day longer to warm up so that we may not be bothered too much on Saturday!
Tonight, the mums will have one final get together to plan for the picnic on Saturday, which will hopefully be rain free. Rain would add injury to the Cicada insult! There is a list to run through in terms of set up. The Mums I had bought for the Prom on the mal are still surviving, so I shall bring those and hand them out to whatever teachers show up. Tomorrow I shall clip the old buds and wrap new blue paper around the pots to make them look a little more presentable. We have little gifts (branded M&Ms and homemade cookies) for the graduates and food and beverages for the teachers and students, though not enough to feed 100 people should everyone turn up. So far ten teachers and some fourty-five students are registered to come. The banners “Congratulations Class of 2021” with the Baron are in the car already. Then we need a picnic table or two and I may pack a broom and a rake in case there are creatures to sweep to the side. The only chore left for me to do beyond that is the preparation of food on Friday night. What and how much of each I will make will depend on the final headcount.
The five mums involved in this venture have all contributed immensely, in terms of preparation and financially. I hope it will be a success and the students will enjoy hanging out together.
Speaking of hanging out. Today there was a carnival at BCC with games, music and fun. EM had lunch with her best friend Anna before heading over. They lasted a little over an hour as all activities were on the lawn in front of the school building with no shade, so it proved to be rather hot. However, it was an opportunity for EM and A to connect with their classmates, which was the main intend of the event.
With swimming every day, practice now three times a week and my usual Friday afternoon sail life is beginning to feel almost normal again. I have plans to meet my German friends for a round of cards the first time in 442 days next week and then we are of to California for a few days and two days after our return is the Senior graduation on the BCC field. And then my child is no longer a schoolgirl. It is all going rather fast now.
Corona infections reported over the past twenty-four hours stand at 27k to bring the US total to 33.79 million. Discussion on all media outlets are moving on. Reports on the virus is moving to page three or four and is much less prominent. Instead politics is more in the focus, especially the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, which seems unresolvable and moving toward a one state solution with two classes of citizens, the haves and the have nots. It is devastating to view, but nothing one can do, especially not as a German as any criticism is invariably called antisemitic.
The virus is spurring the economic divide between rich and poor countries, with poor countries over proportionately impacted. The governments do not have the funding to sustain economic support like rich countries do, their income is often dependent on service industries such a s tourism, which have been hardest hit and they do not have access to vaccines to speed up the recovery.
The so called developed world needs to step up its help!