The "Gift" of 2020

It turns out I don't just put off updating the blog until I have something to write about; I'm generally motivated when I come up with a blog post title that I like. And for anyone who doesn't speak German or know how much I love word play, this one needs some explanation. Gift is one of my favorite German words, as it means nearly the opposite of what it means in English. In German, Gift means poison, so an English speaker needs to pay particular attention to use the proper terminology when talking about giving someone a present (Geschenk), making sure you don't infer that you want to poison them with Gift. That said, this blog title - The Gift of 2020 - obviously uses the German version (BTW, the first letters of nouns are capitalized in written German, so I can keep track).

Despite the this year's general rottenness, or Coronazeit as they say in Germany (which translates literally to Corona Time and always makes me think of happy hour, ala Miller Time) we were able to eke out some joy. On March 7th, I flew to Florida on a previously scheduled trip (just one week before the limitation on travel from the EU to the US) to visit mom, do taxes, and take care of other admin stuff. A few days later we were treated to a visit from Jennifer and Brenda, who also managed to get in and out before the restrictions. We were relatively responsible (or thought so at the time) as we got to squeeze in some big fun before the lockdowns. It was so great to see them!

Fun on the Beach in Sarasota!

As things evolved and started to get pretty scary, I decided to prolong my stay in Florida so mom and I could be on lockdown together. The "gift" (small g) of this time was that mom and I did some cooking (managing to avoid capital-G Gift), enjoyed taking MaJu out for walks, binged watched some of the shows I don't get access to here in Germany, and spent a lot of time with family and friends on Zoom - a real highlight! Meanwhile, daily phone calls with Matthias kept us in touch while he was on lockdown in Germany. Due to the location of our home in the boonies and the pleasant spring weather, he was able to get out on his bike and keep relatively busy.  I'll say that although I felt a bit guilty about leaving him alone during this time, I'm not sure how well we would have handled the lockdown together in our relatively small apartment.  Fortunately, we survived the time apart quite well.

On what was to become the weekly call with Jen and Brenda!

Bike riding in the Meadows

Passover with family!

When I returned to Germany in late May the weather was fabulous, the restrictions were being lifted, and after my two week quarantine, we started to get out on our bikes. In late June, we tested the waters with a relatively local (for us) bike tour loop.  We packed up the bikes and headed south toward the Saale River (the start of our very first tour 15 years ago!).  Due to all the unknowns, we called the campsites in advance to make sure they were open and had space for us (reserving our spots in some cases). We ended up spending three nights in a campsite in Naumburg - a beautiful town with a historic Cathedral in the middle of a pretty wine valley - and also in Jena, a pleasant university town where we took a side trip to Weimar.  We then rode across some hills to Gera and back along the Elster River to Leipzig, where we caught the local train home (we could have ridden it in two days, but the weather called for rain and we knew the area pretty well so didn't feel the need for more exploring.)  It was a great 10-day trip, and gave us hope for a longer journey later in the summer.  It also gave us a good idea for Matthias' birthday. We had originally planned to do a weekend trip to Hamburg, but reconsidered as the thought of spending time in a big city during Coronazeit wasn't all that appealing. So we booked a holiday apartment in Naumburg for three days and took our bikes (without the camping gear) for a weekend there. We had a blast biking around the wine valley, sipping local wine and taking a kayak trip down the river on Matthias' big day. Nice!!

OMG I can't believe I just learned how to do this! Here's a link to a Zoomable Map of our bike tour!!

Riding in the Umstrüt Wine Valley

Wine by Naumburg!

And Beer - In Jena

Pretty Valley on the way to Gera

J and M in a boat! Paddling on the Umstrüt River

Looking out on the wine valley rom the Castle in Freyburg

For many many more photos, here are the full albums for the Bike Trip and Birthday Trip 

In late August, after waiting for when we thought the Germans - many of whom had opted to do local touring in Deutschland rather than their usual trips to Spain, Italy or Greece -  would be returning to school and work, we set off on our main summer trip. This time, we headed north on a loop that contained a lot of highlights.  Again, we were able to start right from our door - avoiding dragging the heavily-packed bikes onto trains. In five days we were in our first desired destination: the Lüneburger Heide, a famed (in Germany) region featuring fields of purple brush that blooms in August, and the special Heidschnucke Sheep that eat it. After a few days there we continued on to Lübeck, a very pretty port city, and then eastward along the Baltic Coast. As we rode, we stopped at virtually every fish stand or shop to get our fill of smoked Halibut, flounder, sole, eel, mackerel and other goodies including Matjes brötchen (yummy yummy herring on a roll).  Eating dinner on our anniversary at a great fish restaurant on a beautiful marina was a highlight! We made our way through the touristy (for good reason) island of Rügen and then back toward home through a beautiful lake region. It was actually one of our best tours. 

 

And here's a link to the Zoomable map

Riding through the Lüneburger Heide

On the Baltic Sea coast by Rerik

Königstuhl site on the island of Rügen

Matjes Brötchen at a marina on Rügen

Matthias checking out the fish smoking

At our campsite by a lake in Brandenburg

Full album with Baltic Coast Bike Trip pictures

Now we're safely back at home in Gommern and I suppose time will tell if we contracted COVID from any of the public restrooms/shower rooms we used every day for the last three and a half weeks (we are back for almost a week now and no symptoms, so.....)  I feel extremely fortunate that we were able to do one of the things we love best and feel bad for others facing more severe limitations of movement. I hope everyone's managing well. And to end on an even more somber note, I do need to report that our family is devastated by the loss of MaJu, my mom's dog who succumbed to injuries after a vicious attack from a neighbor's dog. We are traumatized and miss MaJu like crazy, but are buoyed by some wonderful memories. She will live on in our hearts forever!

We love you, MaJu!

I was planning to include thoughts about the political situation, some of the podcasts I've been listening to and lessons from these and my work with the book on "Me and White Supremacy" but I am once again chickening (or lazy-ing) out. Maybe after the election....  By the way - I already VOTED! Let's get it right this time!