Tuesday 17 March 2020

Cancelled

"Cancelled*" is probably the word we hear and read the most these days - everything is being cancelled, from hairdresser's appointments to pub quizzes, from small birthday parties at home to stadium-filling events.

Up until yesterday, I was determined to have my party. The guest list had already shrunk to about six or seven, and it was planned from the start that this time, my parents would not be at the party; instead, I had intended to have a traditional coffee & cake with them, my sister and O.K. on the Sunday.
After much reading and discussing things with O.K. and my family, finally today the voice of reason has prevailed, and I have cancelled both events.

View from the German Literature Archive, Marbach, across the Neckar valley last Wednesday - probably the last time for a while that I have gone there for work.
View of Marbach as the train was carrying me back to Ludwigsburg.
Another view of Marbach and the river Neckar, as seen from the train. It was such a beautiful day!

Looking back at the past week, I guess a key moment for me was when I read that my home town has cancelled its historical Horse Market, an event that has been held for more than 250 years, and was cancelled only during the worst of the war years. Things must be REALLY serious when something as big as this won't take place, especially as the decision has already been made although the event is always in May, not in another week or two.


Mr. and Mrs. Stork preparing the nest for their little ones. They are not doing anything different because of corona!
We saw this during a walk on Sunday afternoon in O.K.'s area.

All around me, people have been withdrawing from face to face or physical contact with others; some have decided early on to work from home. Schools, libraries, museums, many hotels - all closed. Exhibitions, conferences - all cancelled. Trains are still running mostly on their usual schedule, buses have switched to the schedule usually in place during school holidays. Bus drivers open only the back doors and have stopped selling tickets; if you need a bus ticket now, you have to by it ahead of your trip, either online (most people nowadays use an app on their mobile phones for that anyway) or at a ticket machine.

Restaurants have to shut at 6:00 pm. That is the one measure I do not fully understand; what use will that be? Restaurants that can not guarantee a distance of 1.5 m between one guest and the next have to shut completely. 

Shops are still open, but I imagine it is a question of time until they will either decide on their own to close, or be ordered, unless they are supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries and so on.


Nobody is in danger of starving - there is PLENTY of everything in the shops, except for - you guessed it - flour and toilet paper. I still wonder why the rush for both; yes, I understand that people are preparing for maybe not leaving the house for a while, but will that increase their need for loo rolls that much? And do they seriously believe they will bake their own bread with all that flour? Apart from people who have already been doing that, I simply don't see the hoarders starting it now - especially since, as I have said, there is plenty of food available.


I want my Mum to crochet or knit loo rolls for me as a birthday present!

As of tomorrow, I am exclusively working from home. I am fortunate in that I've been WFH regularly already for years, so it is not a big change. My job can easily be done without personal presence; I can communicate with my clients via email and telephone. At the moment, it is impossible to say for how long; it is unlikely that I will return to any client's office before April.
My main reason for resorting to this is that I depend on public transport for the trips to and from work. My parents (especially my Dad) are in the high risk group, and are not leaving the house unless absolutely necessary (which it isn't right now). Therefore, they depend on my sister, who does all their shopping, and I want to be able to help when I can, without having to worry about carrying the virus to them after I've caught it on public transport or at the office.

We are all experiencing changes in our lives due to corona, some more, some less so. I am not worried about my own health and will not stop going for walks and the occasional run; fresh air and exercise won't do any harm. On one of the official government websites with information about corona I have read the sentence "Every personal contact less is helpful." 

Good job we can stay in touch with our loved ones - and our blogging friends! - without risking infection!

* After Bonnie's comment - see below - I was unsure about the spelling of "cancelled". As you know, English is not my native language. Therefore, I looked it up, and learned that my spelling is the British version, while Bonnie's is (hardly surprising!) the American one.

21 comments:

  1. Tough decisions but wise and prudent ones. I send my best wishes for health and well being to you and your loved ones.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi, and I wholeheartedly send the same best wishes in return!

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  2. I'm so sorry your birthday celebrations have had to be canceled! I do hope that at least you and O.K. will celebrate it. I would think taking walks outside would be fine since you are in the open and not around a group of people.

    I understand what you mean about the cancellations. It seems like every morning I have a group of emails telling me about places and activities that have been canceled or closed. There is not much open any longer. All the restaurants and bars are closed here although in some you can still pick up food to go.

    I am grateful that you are able to work from home as I think public transportation may not be the safest right now. Both my sons and also my daughter-in-law are all working from home now. My granddaughter is a barista and unable to work due to the closures.

    Your pictures are all wonderful! I especially love the ones of the storks and their nest!

    Please take care of yourself and I do hope you have a good birthday despite everything going on!

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    1. Thank you, Bonnie! If things continue the way they are, I am going to spend my birthday on my own - it is by no means certain that O.K. can/may/should come visiting this weekend. He travels in his own car, so that's a plus in the current situation, but there are still a few "ifs" to consider.
      Walking outside is definitely good, as long as I keep away from others. It has never been my habit to hug people while out walking, and I am not going to start that now!

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  3. I intend to continue to take walks outside. I'm also curious as to how I'm supposed to self-isolate, age now beginning with a 7 but shortly to increase from one to two 20 somethings in the house as daughter has asked to come home from university at the weekend because it has effectively closed.

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    1. As far as I have understood the recommendations of our local and national governments, preventive self-isolation applies to households; only those with symptoms or who have been in contact with confirmed carriers of the virus are required to be fully isolated.
      Like I said to Bonnie above, walking is definitely good, as long as we keep away from others. It has never been my habit to hug people while out walking, and I am not going to start that now!

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  4. And I also send you my very best wishes for your birthday, even if the celebrations will be postponed.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi! It is on Sunday, and no matter what I'll be doing, it will definitely unlike any other birthday I've ever had.

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  5. I've just been hearing about the German version of the TV programme Big Brother. Is it true the participants have been shut in the house for a month and don't know what's happening in the outside world, and that they are going to tell them live on air on Thursday evening?

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    1. I have not the slightest idea, Tasker, as this is one of many programmes I never, never, NEVER EVER watch. Sorry I can not help in this matter!
      But this scenario reminds me of one of the cosmonauts aboard the MIR, back in the day when it was still orbiting Earth. He went up a citizen of the USSR, and it ceased to exist while he was in space; upon his return, it was Russia and all the other states, and that entire political system was gone.

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    2. It's not something I've ever seen either, and I certainly didn't have you down as a watcher, just wondered whether you knew if it was correct because I couldn't quite believe they would show something in such awfully bad taste. But of course they would. I've just read about it on the BBC web site and it is apparently correct.

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    3. Yes, unfortunately I would not put that beyond them. It is an awful programme and certainly not made any better by such actions.

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  6. You did the right thing with your birthday celebrations, you would never have forgiven yourself if the worst happened. If we all stay sensible most will be ok.

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    1. Thank you, Cathy, that was exactly my thinking.
      Sadly, not everyone is being sensible. But I hope we will still emerge from it all as ok as possible under the circumstances.

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  7. Wishing you a very happy birthday in spite of your current situation. I am in the group with your parents and intend to stay inside until it is over. We are fortunate to have food delivery service to the door so we will not suffer from lack of calories. However, I don't open the door to anyone, even my beloved lawyer daughter who dropped by yesterday and waved through the window! Again, happy birthday.

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    1. Thank you, dear Jill! You are doing well not to run any unnecessary risk. My parents sometimes have food delivery service, too, but right now there are no slots available - of course everyone is trying to order now. Therefore, it all depends on my sister who does the shopping not only for herself and my parents, but also for a close family friend who is in a high risk group due to previous illness (such as lung cancer). She is the only one in the family with a car.
      I can do my bit of shopping easily on foot, the nearest supermarket is only 5 minutes from my house, and I don't need much for my (mostly) single household.
      Stay well!

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  8. God bless you and keep you safe in Germany! Thanks for telling us what is going on over there. It has been so strange here. Many offices are closed but since I work at a car dealership, in the office, we will remain open. We have just been told to avoid close contact, wash our hands and do not come to work if we are sick. Wish us luck! And you will have to celebrate your March birthday later in the year when hopefully, all of this will be behind us. There is no law as to when your birthday can be celebrated! xx

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    1. God bless you, too, dear Kay! By the way, thank you for the pretty card - it arrived last week already, but somehow I have not gotten round to writing to you yet.
      Someone told me yesterday that her husband's 70th birthday celebration next week has of course been cancelled, and he said he'll have it next year the day before he'll be 71 - he'll still be 70 that day!
      Yesterday I went for a walk across the sunlit fields after work. And can you believe it - the figure of Jesus who had been missing from a wayside cross for about a year now (they'd taken him down after vandals had sawn off his legs) is back! What everyone makes of that is up to them, but it seemed a timely return.

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    2. Yes, a very good time for them to put Jesus back! It reminds me, just this morning, Richard called me to the computer to look at a photo. (He had been looking at our London photos from October of last year.) In one of them, we were at a church in London and he took a long shot of me beside the ancient church and there are shadows on the building...one of them looks like a woman kneeling down in prayer! It is fairly startling to see it, he didn't tell me anything, just told me to look at it and I saw the praying woman straightaway. For us to notice that now, as you say, timely.

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  9. Well I'm very glad for your sake and those of your loved ones that you've all taken the decisions you have. The main thing is to stay safe. The fact that the stork is still nesting is a reminder that some things are blissfully ignorant of the chaos the rest of the world is in.

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    1. So true, Graham! Listening to the non-existent noise outside, it feels like early Sunday morning. The odd car slowly drives through my street, and every now and then, I hear neighbours talking in their gardens, but that's it. Not unwelcome, actually.

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