Springtime Outing

It's been colder again lately. But that hasn't prevented the crocuses from blossoming further, the daffodil buds from shooting up, the birds from chirping, the skies from being blue, or the flowers to be coming out on the boughs of bushes

Yesterday I went on a somewhat misguided mission of mercy to drop off donations at a collection point, only to find out that their storage space was full (which of course is a good thing). Trains of Ukrainians continue to arrive in Berlin's main station, two thirds of them on their way to find relatives or friends in Germany, greeted by volunteers handing over food and help in other forms.

Today I had the usual Saturday breakfast with the family, eating croissants and slices of baguette as we all chatted about politics.

Then in the early afternoon T. came over and, after the obligatory Covid test, we set off east to a small café in Friedrichshain. With home-style radiators, shelves of English-language bestsellers from authors like Jodi Picoult and Jonathan Franzen, informal woven dark grey couches, it serves meat pies, cakes, and assorted drinks in a menu evidently masterminded by an Australian chef. I had a cappuccino and a satisfyingly large slice of cheesecake with cinnamon, apple, cream cheese, and crumble layers, and we caught up with a former colleague.

It was quite blissful not to talk about work, and altogether I had the nicest few hours I've had in weeks.

After returning home I discovered that a job description that has been released on a career website describes a large part of my work. And I'm agonizing again about a colleague-and-friend who was fired last week. Then occasionally worry about world news takes over.

But I have to think about other things; when there are already so many sources of misery, it would be cruel to add more.

And besides I am focusing on the good things: conversations with family that are silly or profound, the joy of seeing friends, the lifting of anti-Covid restrictions as Omicron variant cases decline, and the ways in which one can still try to help others — and unexpectedly be helped in return. I will also try to think of what my father would have advised.