Quarantine

I figured it’s time for a little update, however, there’s not too much to report on… we’re keeping busy by social distancing and staying indoors. :)

Jeff’s enjoying working from home. He rolls out of bed, turns on the coffee pot, then gets to work. He’s advanced his “office” over the past few weeks. He’s still working in the living room with the kitchen table as his desk, but now instead of puzzle boxes holding up his computer and the TV as his monitor, he has two regular monitors set up that we picked up from his office (we never thought we’d be walking down the streets of Germany carrying a computer monitor!).

Amy’s been keeping busy with her online teaching gig as well as putting together photo books of all our travels and trying new recipes. Thankfully the “hamsterkauf”(the German word for “hoarding”) has subsided, so we have access to most of our usual ingredients again. Her part-time job as a “travel agent” has been put on hold as we wait to figure out when we can get back to traveling. We’ve had to cancel three trips so far but are still holding out hope that we can make it to Ireland in May!

T.P.'s back! And it's labeled "CORONA"
Who said German's don't have a sense of humor?

Thankfully the weather has been amazing (sunny days in the mid-60s to low 70s), and the days are getting longer (the sun sets at 8:40pm, and it’s only April!). We’re very happy that we live close to the Hofgarten (public park) that starts near our house and continues for miles along the Rhine. Every day, we take a walk around the park, check on the baby ducks, and participate in the 9pm city-wide applause for essential workers. It’s been fun opening our large windows and waiving to neighbors we’ve never met. After a minute or two of clapping, banging pots, hollering, and howling from one of the neighborhood dogs, the German’s all shout to each other “Bis Morgen” and waive, meaning “See you tomorrow.” It’s been one of our favorite things during this time.

We try to find at least one new thing to do each weekend. One weekend, we took a long walk, exploring new neighborhoods and parks as we made our way to our friend’s house to “say hallo.” They stood out on their balcony, and we stood down below. Another weekend, we strolled by the “blue ribbon” (blooming crocuses popping up in the grass in the park), and as soon as the cherry blossoms began to bloom, we wandered through the city, admiring the stunning pink and white cotton-topped trees. We took a new route to the “island” and found some sandy beaches in Düsseldorf (who knew!), and last weekend, we rode our bikes along the Rhine, stopping to take pictures of the baby sheep and grabbing a pretzel in Kaiserswerth (this is something we’ve been talking about doing since we moved here and something we will definitely do again!).

Somebody needs a car wash...

Not a soul in sight!

During the weekdays and other parts of the weekend, we pass the time sharing silly quarantine memes with each other (there are so many good ones!), playing games with our friends (using zoom of course), chatting away with friends and family, watching plenty of Netflix, and testing our intelligence at Sunday-night trivia (thanks Julie and Paul!).

We are incredibly grateful that, overall, the coronavirus has had a minimal impact on us. Our biggest loss what the death of Jeff’s grandpa on April 4. It was a bittersweet loss, as his grandpa was living with Alzheimer’s and was on the decline, but we all wish he could have passed at a different time where he could be surrounded by family and where we could all gather to celebrate a life well-lived. Hopefully, we can get together later this year to celebrate grandpa Hal!

Our other disappointments and impacts are purely selfish. Both Jeff and I have celebrated birthdays during this lovely quarantine… neither of which were what we had planned for this year, but we made the most of both and enjoyed our special days. We also spent a quiet Easter indoors, enjoying a virtual brunch with some friends, watching the quickest Easter mass ever on YouTube (30 minutes), and preparing our own Easter dinner, complete with cake from the fancy dessert shop (we were hoping to find carrot cake, but came up short… maybe that’s not a typical Easter treat here?).

We’re definitely bummed about our canceled trips and that two sets of summer visitors had to cancel their trips as well. We also just learned that Germany canceled Oktoberfest this fall… Things are getting real! However, we continue to remain hopeful that things will begin to turn around and that we will be able to continue our adventures soon! We still have so much to see!

“To live without hope is to cease to live” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky