alcippe | Disease and dinner dates

I'm having trouble looking away from the covid-19 train wreck that is spreading across the world.

I refresh Twitter repeatedly to see how many cases have popped up in Germany, in the US, in Italy. There are 58 in Berlin as I type. I gape in awe and horror and I know there is nothing I can do about it.

Germany has just cancelled all large public events from now until the 19th of April, so I'm guessing I won't being going to see Underworld on March 21.

I would love to hide out in my studio for the next months and simply side-step the insanity completely, but work demands (as long as I still must work at this job) are what they are. The distance to the office is too far to bike, so I take the S-Bahn. I wash my hands with vigour.

I have two dinner dates with friends scheduled — one on Friday and one on Tuesday (St. Patrick's Day), and am visiting K in the West tomorrow night. I will go to all of these things and hope for the best.

People around me snicker and laugh about how silly it is to be afraid, that it will all blow over and come to nothing.

I'm at 32 hours of fasting now, my app tells me, with just 22 more hours to go.

I'm surprised with myself, and how easy it has been to do these water fasts. I'm going to try to do another one this weekend, from Saturday to Tuesday when I meet with A for dinner.

I wish I could do one long fast and have done with it, but having a social life disallows this. The longest I've gone was 6 days, and had to cut it short for a work dinner.

Today on my walk home from the train I saw a tree in full bloom, an explosion of tiny white flowers in the darkness. I could hardly believe my eyes and stood looking at it for a moment. Amazing. Spring has arrived.