Lockdown 2.0 day 14

 Another day in the row of lockdown, dark and empty streets, cold and rainy, really good days to stay at home.  It gets more and more uncomfortable, when we have less access to our comfort shopping, that all now happens on line. Works fine, the mailbox is filled and the notes of delivered packages are around. So, I AM happy, with the little assecoires for my camera, it makes my luxury a lot more comfortable.

Today I had a long sit in the tram, a man dropped down, unconscious, so we all had to wait for the medical aid to come. I had a bit time to think, and one of the things that came up, was about the 'anti corona' brigade.
At the start they were convinced about the Gates Conspiracy, what happened to that?  Is there still anyone believing in the chips in the vaccinations?  When will the first alarm go, when a vaccinated person is entering the supermarket?
Hot item at the moment is the limitation of the firework, with silvester.  It is not soled in the shops, but in internet people can buy it everywhere.  At many places it is not allowed to fire it,  in other cities there are just certain areas where it is not allowed..

It is a bit irritating, all those different regulations. I understand it (a bit), but for the normal people it is only confusing. People need, and find a lock, so that they still can do those things, what are not good in this time.  A general rule should be much more easy!   Well, for the people who think like me it is easy.  No firework, also no confusing, where and where not  But it is very confusing, and for the people that appearantly look for 'mazes'  in the net, they will find it and make unnecessary things dangerous. 

I fear that it is with all the measures are taken. There is no transperancy.  Most people are clever, they just stay home, but there will be always a group that needs the rules more. And if those rules are not there, the unpleasant surprises are predicable.

I don't want to end this blog negative,  I am grateful that we are still healthy (knock on wood) and that we have our house, our food, and each other.  Life is as good as you make it. Worries are a reason that people get ill. I want to be healthy. I smile, and those days, I sing loud with the music :)  Ahhh bliss!

The photo is taken today, I was getting bread in Düsseldorf  on a very grey day.  

Lockdown 2.0 day 13

 And I did not post a blog yesterday.   Not that there is nothing to mention, every day has its highlights, but it was just a day to forget everything.

The lockdown brings a kind of weird isolation. It is not from free will, and, tho I do not mind being alone and dong things alone, that consequently has affects at the day, at the things I do. No horry, it can be done later, tomorrow., next week...
The first signs are already there, that the Lockdown will not be over, after January 10th.  We have a while to go, but the numbers of infected people are not really going down enough.  
And considering the lots of things those lockdown already costs it is in my eyes useless to say, okay, leave it, as long as there are no other alternatives.

No one can foresee what happens, but we can foresee today.  It is winter, yes, the glasses get dampy when we go out and I see a lot of fellow 'damp gazers'.  Good that it is not that busy, but  it is also a bit unhandy.
Mask on, Hat on, and then the cleaning the glasses in the street. Did you ever try?

:-) 

Anyway it was beautiful (cold) weather, and I went for a lovely walk, unmasked. Not too many people outside, and that was exactly how I wanted it. Sometimes it works :) 
Oh, yes, worth to mention, this year there is officially no firework on sale in Germany.  Also, who wants, buys it at Internet, but in a lot of places it is not allowed to fire them with Silvester, well, you can imagine what is going to happen.  
We stay home. But, that is not yet, a lot can happen in 2 days.  What will happen?  I think you might read a bit of it, soon in this theater :)  

The photo.. Well, no comments to that!

Lockdown 2.0 day 11

 On the 3rd day of Christmas....    

It is sunday again. When I went to my work (yes..) at 6.45 in the morning,  I was confrontated by a fully empty street. The bakery just opened, the tram passed by with one passenger. And at the corner a homeless man was sitting, smoking his cigarette.

Cold, windy, defintitely a day to be cozy at home. And definitely not in the street, like this man. 
Who  knows me a bit, knows that I believe, that everything happens for a reason.
The view of this man, in the cold, I greeted him good morning, was pinched at me, and I walked further to find the coffee machine not working properly. Argh... Me and no coffee,  that was not as planned!

Luckily I found some alternatives, and my working hours went wonderful. With every talk I had that man in mind, sitting there in the dark. What should he be tinking, if anything at all, when he saw me, masked?  Ah, most likely he did not see me in the dark, just a silhouetto of a man...mama mia...

When I came back, it was a bit lighter, and stormy weather. The bakerys were still open, the man is gone. A few more people in the street, still no weather to be outside.
At home, first a real coffee (wow.. did that taste!) and then we had a video talk with our friends in the UK.
What a lovely hour that was, as if they were sitting with us at the couch, and as if things were just like in the good old times. 
Since the good old times are gone forever, we need to build on the good new times. And I think that that is the challenge for the upcoming time.

Oh, yes, before I forget, it is a diary, so it is about today..
They started with the vaccinations, today, what is positive. No matter if youi want to be vaccinated or not, fact is, that (when all turns out well)  it slowly will lead to a bit of normalisation of our daily lifes.  With all those lockdowns, it is getting harder to find the things that we need to buy. Where to we get a ightbulb for our (special) lamp, now the shops are closed?   On line, correct, and it will take at least a week before it is delivered.
More and more I discover the advantages of 'on line' talking.  Chatting from the couch, seeing eachother,  better then the pub.  

The photo is taken this morning at 7, at my desk.

Lockdown 2.0, day 10

 On the second day of Christmas....

Another day, lazy at home, shops closed, and... everybody in the park, because what else can you do on such a day.

I was in the park as well. After a lazy moring, nice and relaxed breakfast, I made a wonderful walk, in beautiful weather. No matter where I go, everywhere I find signals that things have changed. I still do not mind too much, but some moments I miss it, or I notice it. Sure with the camera in the hand.  

On this day I met a few people, that clearly had some difficulties.  The old lady, who was collecting the paper work in the street, and asked me if I could take the little 'car' home, (see photo).  I asked her, do you know who it belongs?  Yes,she said, they live there, and she pointed to a window at the 2nd floor.  Not that I had the intention to take it, of course. :)  

Then, later, at one of the beautiful edges of our park, a cluster of people was begging me for money, inviting me for a smoke, argh... Poor people. It is cold outside and there is no place to go.

After a while my gratitude returned. I am so happy, to have a roof, a warm bed. And even when the scones did not rise as good as I wished, they are still delicious to eat. I can't take away the idea that Mags is giggling, upstairs, when she sees the monsteous scones.  
Everyone can bake scones.

Well... that is definitely not true :) 

Yes, I eind this day with a smile. There are hard times on our way, for who thought Christmas was bad, beware for t

he next few weeks. 
I have confidence. I wish I can share my hope, my faith, and my humor with you.

Lockdown 2.0, day 9

 At the irst day of christmas....

After a false start in the day, at 3, where I did drop back in old habbits, the restart was much better.Awake at 9, a nice and calm breakfast and then I made my  walk, with beautiful weather.  First day of christmas, and of curse the bus was (almost) empty, as well as the street. It is going to look a lot like christmas. 

As I wrote before,  the biggest problem for a lot of people is, what to do with the load of free time, now that the entertainment possibilities are so little. No Zoo, no museum and that not just for one day.

Well, that was, as expected, what I saw today.  First, it was early, a lot of joggers, and later, families with kids, grandparents, and I don't know what more. I was not intrestetd, just in keeping distance, and  I concentrated at my photography, and getting my head clean again. 

It worked wonderful, I walked home, missed my coffee ;-), but I recharged, so all is fine.
I just baked my oath cookies, and now.. am ready for a quiet evening, in best company.

The photo is the first one of my walk of today. I think some more will come, at my Hafri Site at Facebook.  

Lockdown 2.0, day 8

Merry Christmas!

At Christmas eve, we had the luxury to enjoy our first free day in a roe of 4.
Thank God it's Christmas!

I did my last shoppings, the city looked very empty, only the perfume shop had a queue, last minute on line pick ups.
It looked very much like a lockdown indeed.

We stayed home, the weather was  inviting for a nice day, Kartoffelsalat and sausages, and a remote talk with family.

The church clocks invited the people, who booked their tickets, to come to the church.
No gatherings allowed, but this is okay?
The church clocks sounded like dead bells to me. The most scary thing I heared in this year. Okay, I think too much, maybe?

Now I am awake in the middle of the night, just awake, well, I guess that is lockdown? 

Blog is written. Cold feet. Back in bed. Hopefully for a bit of sleep.

Mood? Restless...

Lockdown 2.0 day 7

Strange days it are.

Soon it is christmas, and, as every thing, this year, it is different.

But not all has changed.
The madness in the supermarkets remains.  What is new, are the endles queues outside, waiting before one is allowed inside.  And when I hear the news, there is no sight that the curve is flattened enough to hope at a bit better, soon.  Too manie people are killed by the virus, too many people get sick by it.

A deep sigh and forward we go.  Today was a bit a strange day, the preparations for christmas are finally running here in house as well, but it is .. .different. 
The dark cloud is not really leaving.  I wake up and the cloud is there, I make my walks, in the park, the cloud is there. I cook, I clean, the cloud is there. Radio on, radio off.. it is there. You don't see it, and it is there.
I fight hard to stay positive. And I succeed. I have no other choice. I want to survive, I want to get good out of this, and I will. And I will do what I can, so that you come out of this good as well (that is my loud wish to .. you know). 

Meanwhile, everything remains different.  And meanwhile even the ruitine walks, bring surprises.  I only had to look up, to see the bird. Wow.
My day was good. The surprise came, just when I did not expect it.
I am open for more surprises. And I know very well, that I am very grateful for what I have.

Tomorrow the last preparations, for christmas. It is going to look a bit like it.  The light burns inside..  See it. Let it shine into your eyes.  Masked, of course :) but not the eyes. 

Todays photo is from the christmas tree market, in front of the monumental 'Alte Post'

As if nothing else matters.

 

Lockdown 2.0 day 6

 Yes!  We are in!

Europe gave the 'go'  to the vaccination against the virus, right at the day that some more pharmaceutic companies announced that their serum is (almost) ready.
Big business is coming for them, the power lines will be stronger and more openly then ever before.

It is time to consider, if I want to be vaccinated or not.
Well, there is no consideration, I will get the needle, when it is that far, I think somewheree before summer, when we know a bit more.
Or not.
It is so scary, to see how 'the world'  now is falling over the new variation in the virus, that bubbled up in the UK (and a few more countries).
The UK is now practically isolated,  someone wrote me that there might be a lack of Brocoli, this chirstmas, blimey, the world really is falling apart.

Now all the sudden strict measures to one country can be taken within a day, but when it comes to a personal lockdown, in our country, there is hesitation and consideration, while in that time hundreds of people die.

I not need to understand it, it makes me upset, when I read too much about it.

But today, day 6 in the Lockdown, is a rainy day, so I automatically stay at home, and the news bubbles in the background so I get an endless flood of that information, what made me think, instead of cleaning :) 

Every disadvantage has an advantage,  so true!
The Brocolli haters in the UK will agree with this.
And further... I hope the soup is worth to be eaten, tonight. That is at the moment my biggest worry. Life could be better, maybe, but I think... Life is good. Life is what you make of it.

Blog done. Back to the soup.  And a photo from yesterday, 

Lockdown 2.0 day 5

First I want to write a few words about the 'big' news of today, about the mutation of the virus, as found in S. Africa and the UK.

It is not unusual (and it is predicted), that the virus changes and finds new ways to infect. 
Ironical the country that as one of the first started with vaccinating (UK), gets the first serious outbreak. 

For me, and for most of us, nothing changes. We keep on wearing masks and we keep on being limited in our contacts. Nothing new, nothing to change our things now.

So, this is a sunday in lockdown 2.  The streets are more quiet then on usual sundays, I mean the motorways.  In the city the normal crowd of people.  The people without home and the people with the illegal (drugs) business are more obviously present, what is normal, of course, when the street gets more empty.

I decided to go for a walk in a square of our city, what is very much changing, huge industry disappears and makes place for houses. Old streets, new buildings even a rennovated park.
It gave me mixed feelings. Seeing the past, a part of history, disappearing, and at the other side a lot of nice new things.

In the park (I like it, very small but nice) a woman asked me to photograph the dirt in the 'sitting square'.  From all the people that need to party, preferrable when no one sees it.  I usually do photograph such, but this time I did not feel like. 

The walk was beautiful. I feel very, very privileged, that I can do such. My biggest reward was, the longer I was out, the more the sun came out.
A huge reward, but I am not sure why I deserved it.

I feel grateful. And I wish all who read this, to be happy and look forward to the upcoming christmas days. It is up to you, to make it work! Take the challenge to build something beautiful.

Lockdown 2.0 day 4

When I lay awake in the night, and the thoughts come (it happens!), I also think of course about the Lockdown, the virus, the ill people and the future.
Now the future is not a thing I can change, and I wish I was as good to cure the people who suffer from the virus, but no, I am not. 
My 'help'  in this is limited to listening, and to try to give a bit  of hope, happy moments, to people. As with photos, a few words, or a listening ear,  and that's it.

It is a kind of masquerade, and I think a lot of people wear a mask. in those times, that they are scared to be themselves, a poerson that has worries and, just like me, is insecure about everything what is coming to us.
I think that as well the Anti Corona movement is wearing a mask. I can not imagine, that people really, deep in the heart, don't mind that so many people get serious ill, so many people not survive and that the virus affects our life every day. 

How can you deny a thing, that is real, only why you not see it? 
And at the same time believe in the opposite, what you can not see even less? For what are no facts, no reports, just wild videos and panic making behaviour. 

Day 4 in this lockdown. 
Wonderful weather. And what did I do?
I did stay home, decorated a littlebit for christmas, I love the lights, and the silent nights.
In the night I always wonder how I will come through the day.
And in the day, I always manage prettty well.

All in all it is a good Saturday. I love my inner peace, but I also am glad when I can take care of my better half, what will be not too long, before she is home. For some people the lockdown all work remains the same. The true heroes, who you not hear, and not see.

Oh man. I stop this thinking. It gives headages!  Bring me my coffee :) 


Also, a photo from yesterday, in the silence city  Düsseldorf. 

Lockdown 2.0 day 3

A beauriful, sunny day. And I went to the city, to get  our favorite bread. Yes, the bakery is open.
As well as the donut bekery, the popcorn stalls and the hamburger restaurants.

All in take-away, but consequently a lot of people are eating their food in the city... where masks are mandatory, but hey, you can't eat with that thing on, hey, so... it is hanging at the chin, as a kind of napkin.  And I don't want to know, who spilled a bit of Ketchup from his fries in the mask, and putting it up again, when the service people demand them to wear the thing.

The city is not empty, more filled like at a quiet sunday. People sitting in the park, Families are walking, children are playing.. Many shops closed, and the ones who have the take away have an easy sunny day.

I continue my walk back, duty is done, and I enjoy the sun. As if nothing else matters. Yes, we stoill can not see the virus, and the killings it causes. And since may people don't care, we shall have to live  with it. 

On the positive side... I did not found any mask on my way.  
I must add to that, that I did not look for them. The weather was beautiful and I absolutely had no time for that negative load today.

Life is so good!  Life is so worth to fight for. Be good. Protect others, wear your mask. The ciggie and the drink can wait, the virus doesn't.

Day 3 this is. And counting. 

Lockdown 2.0 day 2

 There we are, Lockdown Thursday, one more week before Christmas.

It was a lazy day, I went no further away as to the mailbox, hardly listened to the radio, barely read the social media. 

Life is good!  The ook not finished, yet, and no photos taken -at all-  The one to this blog is from yesterday, I had so much fun with my 'crystal ball' ,  if I ever get bored in this countdown, I know what I can do.

The weather looks sunny and bright, I thought about going for a round, but well, why should I go, if I am happy at home, together with my sweetie?

Official forms are fixed, the last thing for this year, yeah! 

The radio was on. I  heared the corrected numbers, for infected people.  Help. 
Read that a few areas are using cool containers, to store the bodies.   Help
Masks are washed and clean 
And I am ready for some reading an gaming.

Have I said already, that life is good?  Well, it is!

Lockdown 2.0 day 1

Last  night I woke up at 4, far too early, but my stomach was protesting, I think it is not good to fill it two days in a row with salads ;-) 

Anyway, that is not where I wanted to talk about here :)  

Laying awake, all kind of things went throught my head, and, naturally, as well related to the Lockdown. 
A slight form of panic, like.. .what to do when we are not allowed to do anything... and so on. 

Around 7, still awake, I allowed myself to get up and make breakfast, and the day started running...
Like every other day.
Slight changes. Shops are cloesed, no nosey people, standing for the shop for a talk, no hairdresser open, but the chinese (food to go) had its noodles ready.  The city wakening up, 9 am, and, surprise surprise, a bit of sun, yea!

The day went in routine. A bit more queues to wait in, but, considering the weather, it was okay.
It surprised me to see entire families (also mom, dad and kids) going together for shopping.  Strange it is, people simply do not get what is really going on. 
Or they don't care. 
Such as the people that still were not wearing masks.
The Bratwurst 'christmas stall'  is gone.  The popcorn and almonds stand still ist there, in front of the closed shoe shop. 
Some shops are partially closed, not allowed to trade half of their products, just the essential ones.  

We shall see how it continues. At the end of the weeks the schools close, for the chtristmas holidays, now already there are much less kids on their way.  Tram and bus go as usul, and are filled with people. I have no idea where to. :) 

Today I met no people, other then the cashier in the supermarket.  But an message from my friend in the US made my day. Just so nice, to read people with a positive attitude. :) 

Life is good. A week before christmas. Bring it on!  :) 

Lockdown 2.0

Lockdown 2.0.  

That tells it all. We are again in a lockdown, thank you, Corona Virus. 

Sunday it was announced, and the people have had time until tonight, Tuesday, to behave like no one wanted that they should behave.  Queues before the shops, endless, and of course no distances. But, most masked,that is a thing we learned the past few months.
 Appearantly many not yet see the essential of the problem, and they matter more about their christmas gifts rather then about  the people around them.

My preparations for the lockdown were limited. If I compare with the first lockdown, on what we hardly did know what we could expect, I now know that the supermarkets stay open, so there is a guarantee that I will get some stuff. We shall survive. That is, when the people behave and not buy as much as that they did with toilet paper. And it starts again, I heared from reliable resources.

I will write a bit about the coming days. Christmas is different this year. How different?   Read Satties Lockdown Journal, and you know all about it. 

Today was the day that people in risk groups could get the first 'stack' of free PP2 masks. Since I am in the age that is labeled as critical, I could get 3 as well. I will give them my sweetie, she needs them more then I, with her countless contacts, every day. For her there is no lockdown, the show will go on.

Tonight... Rain.. baked potatoes, salad, saucages.  Life is yum! 

Todays photo is taken on Sunday, also 2 days ago. When we saw the sun for the last time.